Semarang, 27 August 2026 — Academic Expertice Cluster Bereaucratic Reform, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro held a Dissemination Forum on the Results of the SDGs International Community Service under the theme “Prison Reform, Governance, and Service Delivery: A Comparison between Indonesia and the Philippines” on Thursday, 27 August 2026, at the Theater Room of FISIP Universitas Diponegoro.
The event was part of a series of SDGs International Community Service activities previously carried out at the Semarang Class I Correctional Institution. The dissemination forum provided a space to bring field experiences and observations into a broader academic discussion, particularly on prison reform, governance, public service delivery, and the criminal justice system from a Public Administration perspective.
The forum featured Ian Niccolo Vizcarra Tobia, PhD, an academic from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines, and Rabby Pramudatama, S.IP., LL.M., Programme Coordinator for Criminal Justice at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Indonesia.
Promoting Academic and International Collaboration
The event opened with remarks from Dr. Dyah Lituhayu, M.Si., representing the Bureaucratic Reform Expertise Group of the Department of Public Administration, FISIP Undip. In her remarks, she emphasized that the International Community Service program is not only a form of community engagement, but also a learning platform that connects academic perspectives with real challenges faced by public institutions.
The program was also welcomed by the Vice Dean for Academic and Student Affairs of FISIP Undip, S. Rouli Manalu, Ph.D. She highlighted the importance of international academic forums that enable students to learn directly from academics and practitioners working on issues of criminal justice, governance, and correctional reform.
“Activities like this are important because they provide learning experiences that go beyond the classroom. Students are able to see how Public Administration concepts intersect with real-world challenges, while also gaining international perspectives on correctional reform and the governance of public institutions. We hope that this kind of collaboration will continue to grow and create more opportunities for students, faculty members, and international partners to learn and work together.”
She further noted that correctional issues are highly relevant to Public Administration because they involve not only legal and security dimensions, but also institutional capacity, the quality of public services, inter-agency coordination, accountability, and the fulfillment of the rights of inmates.
The event also formed part of FISIP Undip’s efforts to strengthen the internationalization of education and provide students with more contextual, collaborative, and impactful academic experiences.
Nick Tobia: Prison Reform Is Also a Public Administration Issue
In his presentation entitled “Prison Reform: From the View of Public Administration,” Ian Niccolo Vizcarra Tobia, PhD encouraged participants to view criminal justice reform not merely as a legal issue.
He explained that criminal justice reform is often perceived as a legal problem and therefore considered primarily the domain of lawyers. In practice, however, many of the challenges involved are actually public administration problems that require the attention and expertise of public administrators.
Nick also connected Public Administration with the role of international organizations. He explained that the United Nations is an intergovernmental organization whose role includes assisting governments in performing their functions more effectively, while the core functions of government are ultimately carried out through public administration.
His visit to the Semarang Class I Correctional Institution the previous day also became an important point of reflection in his presentation. Nick highlighted the issue of prison capacity. Based on the data presented in his materials, the institution has a capacity of 691 inmates, while its population has reached 1,383 inmates, equivalent to approximately 200 percent occupancy.
He also noted that fewer than 100 inmates are able to participate in work and skills-development activities in the workshop area. This condition was used to encourage participants to reflect on the extent to which Law No. 22 of 2022 on Corrections can be effectively implemented when correctional institutions face significant capacity constraints.
In his concluding remarks, Nick emphasized that public administrators have an important role to play not only within government, but also in the international development sector. The criminal justice system requires effective public administration to ensure that legal provisions and international standards can be translated into practice. He also underscored that the reality of Public Administration is ultimately most visible at the level of implementation on the ground.
Rabby Pramudatama: Prison Reform Does Not Stop at the Prison Walls
A systemic perspective on correctional reform was presented by Rabby Pramudatama, S.IP., LL.M. through his presentation entitled “Prison Reform as Public Administration: Governing a System Under Pressure.”
Rabby invited participants to recognize that problems visible within correctional institutions do not necessarily originate within prisons themselves. The criminal justice system consists of interconnected stages and institutions, including the police, prosecution, courts, corrections, probation and parole services (Bapas), and the community.
Therefore, prison overcrowding, for example, needs to be understood as the result of interactions among policies and decisions relating to arrest, pre-trial detention, prosecution, sentencing, release, and reintegration.
Through the idea “A Prison Has Walls. The System Doesn’t,” his presentation demonstrated that correctional reform is closely linked to law, budgets, human resources, data, coordination, and political priorities. Reform, therefore, cannot be achieved simply by improving a single institution; it requires governance across the entire criminal justice system.
Rabby also reviewed the long history of correctional reform in Indonesia, beginning with the 1964 Lembang Conference, which marked a paradigm shift from the concept of imprisonment (kepenjaraan) toward a broader correctional approach (pemasyarakatan). He continued with Law No. 12 of 1995, the revitalization of corrections in 2018–2019, and the enactment of Law No. 22 of 2022 on Corrections.
His presentation emphasized that reform does not follow a linear path, because implementation is shaped by factors including law, leadership, institutions, and resources.
The discussion also addressed the implementation of Indonesia’s new Criminal Code on 2 January 2026, including provisions on supervisory sentences and community service sentences. These developments provide opportunities to consider alternatives to imprisonment while strengthening the role of Bapas and communities in implementing community-based sanctions.
Through a simulation involving limited budgets, participants were also encouraged to consider difficult choices in correctional management, including how to prioritize food, security, healthcare, staff, rehabilitation, digital systems, Bapas, and infrastructure.
The key message was that reform does not always mean introducing more programs or activities. It also requires making better decisions about what matters most and what should be prioritized.
From Prison Problems to Governance Challenges
The presentations by both speakers highlighted an important common message: prison reform is not merely about prisons.
Correctional challenges are part of a much broader system of government. Overcrowding, limited access to rehabilitation programs, healthcare services, readiness for reintegration, and staff capacity are all influenced by decisions and coordination taking place across different stages of the criminal justice system.
This perspective is particularly relevant for Public Administration students because it demonstrates how policy, organizational structures, budgeting, human resources, inter-agency coordination, leadership, data, and the quality of implementation ultimately shape the quality of public services delivered by government institutions.
As emphasized in Rabby Pramudatama’s presentation:
“Prison reform is not only about prisons. It is about how government works.”
Connecting Prison Reform with the SDGs
The dissemination forum also reinforced the connection between correctional reform and SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Effective, accountable, humane, and equitable criminal justice and correctional institutions are essential components of efforts to build strong public institutions.
Through a comparative perspective between Indonesia and the Philippines, students had the opportunity to understand that correctional challenges may differ across national contexts, while still sharing common issues related to institutional capacity, rehabilitation, the protection of human dignity, coordination, and social reintegration.
The program also demonstrated that learning in Public Administration extends beyond the classroom. The field experience at the Semarang Class I Correctional Institution, followed by academic reflection with an international scholar and a UNODC practitioner, enabled students to directly observe the relationship between theory, policy, institutions, and public service practices.
Through the SDGs International Community Service series, the Bureaucratic Reform Expertise Group of the Department of Public Administration, FISIP Undip, seeks to strengthen knowledge-based community engagement while building international networks among universities, public institutions, and international organizations.
The program is expected to open further opportunities for collaboration in prison reform, criminal justice, public administration, governance, public service delivery, and the Sustainable Development Goals, while strengthening the contribution of FISIP Universitas Diponegoro to education and academic activities that create meaningful impact for society.