OGP Outreach in Asia

“EMBRACING THE COLORS OF OPENNESS”

The Government of Indonesia hosted the first Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) Outreach in Asia at the 5th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in Bali, Indonesia on November 8-9, 2012. BDF is an annual event hosted by the Government of Indonesia as a regional forum in Asia to provide an open and inclusive platform for sharing best practices in democratic governance. The spirit and goals of BDF are inline with OGP, which makes the event very relevant for OGP outreach to the governments. With this year theme “Advancing Democratic Principles in a Global Setting,” BDF succeeded to host around 1,400 participants from 76 countries and 7 multilateral organizations, including 11 Head of States. The participants also included around 21 countries that are already members of OGP.

As the supporting Co-Chair of OGP, Indonesia executed its mandate to promote OGP to a broader audience in the Asian region, with the theme “Embracing the Colors of Openness.” The theme is adjacent with the spirits of BDF that are mainly inclusivity and diversity in openness. The theme of the OGP outreach emphasizes on the variety of countries participating in OGP and the many angles of issues being addressed through the country commitments.  After the event, 6 countries (Pakistan, Romania, Palestine, Nigeria, Myanmar, Serbia) showed their interest in receiving further information about OGP, with Nigeria and Palestine indicated their interest in joining OGP.