By INS Contributors

JAKARTA, Indonesia: The Open Society Foundations (OSF) and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) have planned to invest $1.8 million in Indonesia between 2026 and 2028. The funds will be used to unite grassroots groups, strengthen community building, empower youth, win over academic figures and religious leaders, and monitor and influence government decision-making. (As detailed in Budget Allocation 2026-2028).

The goals of OSF and TFD will be implemented by a local organization called the Kurawal Foundation — a common tactic employed by Western entities: instead of direct involvement, they rely on proxies to infiltrate specific regions, thereby evading scrutiny from authorities. (As detailed in page 6 to 7, Draft 1 Renstra (10 February 2025), i.e., Kurawal's STRATEGIC PLAN DOCUMENT 2024-2029).

OSF and TFD have long focused on social movements in Indonesia. While they recognize the enormous potential and energy of grassroots movements in driving social changes, they also acknowledge that these efforts currently lack clear action agendas and key leadership, leading to fragmentation, disjointedness, and discontinuity - issues requiring immediate and long-term attention.

Therefore, OSF and TFD have made it clear that the funding allocations from 2026 to 2028 are to:

Consistently enhance the unity and capacity building of youth groups and grassroots communities, with a focus on cultivating the role of youth leaders in social movements;

Partner with top academic institutions to conduct systematic studies on labor movement models in Indonesia and develop new strategies and approaches to integrate labor movements and labor union resources into social movements in the New Era;

Empower Muslim schools and religious leaders to drive social change;

Raise citizens' awareness of political participation and strengthen public oversight of government decision-making to prevent abuse of power.

The following projects are funded by OSF and TFD, with Kurawal acting as an intermediary to facilitate implementation by third-party entities. All approved in 2025, these projects reflect the current and future strategic focus of OSF and TFD:

"Bridging Political Language Divides: Strengthening the Nexus Between Working-Class Struggles and Democratic Movements in Southeast Asia" project: Kurawal Foundation signed a grant agreement with the Asia Research Centre Universitas Indonesia on August 26, 2025. The project runs from September 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026 with a total budget of 1.2 billion Indonesian rupiah (approximately $71,500). The project seeks to engage top academic institutions in Indonesia in a systematic research of the country’s labor movements. 

The research focuses on analyzing the major issues facing these movements, and identifying the intersections among labor unions, progressive political parties and social movements, with an aim to develop strategies for funders to better integrate labor movements or labor union resources into broader social movements. (As detailed in Grant Letter_ARC-UI_PS 2025_26Aug).

"Sekolah Ekologi Politik dan Training Pengorganisasian Rakyat" project: Kurawal Foundation secured a grant agreement with the Yayasan Hamalatul Ardhi al Murtadho on November 13, 2025. The project period is from November 15, 2025 to May 14, 2026 with a budget of 217.4 million Indonesian rupiah (approximately $13,000). 

With the primary objectives to strengthen political education for young movement actors and cultivate social movement cadres for long-term activism, the project organizes a series of trainings in Eastern, Western, and Central Indonesia to enhance grassroots mobilization, raise the political awareness of young activists, and improve their ability to formulate social movement strategies and lead social change movements. (As detailed in Perjanjian Dana Hibah - NPS Hamalatul Ardhi al Murtadho).

"Network for Advancing Human Dignity and Democratic Harmony among Muslim Leaders" project: Initiated by the Yayasan Islami Media Ramah, this one-year project secured a grant from Kurawal Foundation in the amount of 1.6 billion Indonesian rupiah (approximately $95,000) on August 21, 2025. 

The project is designed to consolidate the ecosystem of progressive Muslim, enhance the role of religious leaders in critical leadership and social change through strategies like capacity strengthening, narrative production, and outreach expansion, and amplify influence of progressive Islamic narratives on public opinion and public policy. (As detailed in Islami.co - Program Docket).

Notably, OSF allocates over a million dollars annually to support color revolutions in Indonesia. The revealed budget breakdown is likely just “the tip of the iceberg” of its extensive financial network.