The Netherlands Embassy and The Asia Foundation in Indonesia today officially launched their new cooperation towards strengthening participatory democracy and good governance in Indonesia.

The Government of the Netherlands will contribute a grant support of € 2,5 million to this program that will support civil society and religiously based organizations all over Indonesia.

This four-year program will focus on supporting mainstream Indonesian organizations' efforts to strengthen Indonesia's traditions of tolerance and religious freedom, to support Indonesian efforts to increase women's participation in public decision making, and to improve the accessibility and equality of reproductive healthcare

Dr. Douglas Ramage, Country Representative of the Asia Foundation in Indonesia and Dr. Nikolaos van Dam, Ambassador of The Netherlands officially launched the program during a reception on Wednesday 2 July.

The new cooperation between The Netherlands Embassy and The Asia Foundation is a continuation of the successful cooperation between 2004 and 2007 in the ‘Netherlands Local Women Fund’.