OGP Outreach Event at Bali Democracy Forum on Nov 8-9, 2012

The Government of Indonesia hosted the first Open Government Partnership (OGP) Outreach in Asia at the 5^th 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 in line with OGP, which made the event very relevant for OGP outreach to the governments. With this year's theme “Advancing Democratic Principles in a Global Setting,” BDF succeeded in hosting 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 during a special OGP session at BDF with the theme “Embracing the Colors of Openness.” The theme embraces the spirit of BDF, which emphasizes inclusivity and diversity in openness. Speakers at the OGP outreach session emphasized the variety of countries participating in OGP and the many angles of issues being addressed through country commitments.  After the event, 6 countries (Pakistan, Romania, Palestine, Nigeria, Myanmar and Serbia) showed their interest in receiving further information about OGP, with Nigeria and Palestine indicating their interest in joining OGP.