Inclusive Governance in South Asia: Bangladesh Conference

South Asia as a whole is more democratic now than at any time in the past. Most of the countries in the region can be labeled as “electoral” democracies. While international concerns have prompted countries in the region to move toward improving accountability mechanisms, the inclusion of citizens as legitimate stakeholders in the process of governance has remained neglected. To draw attention to this issue, the Foundation supported an international conference on “Inclusive Governance in South Asia.” The conference was jointly organized with the University of Chittagong and the Public Administration and Governance Research Network. Experts from Canada, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the U.K. and the U.S. attended the seminar. The conference explored the degree of inclusiveness in different governing institutions and in sectoral governance in South Asian countries. More than three-dozen international and local experts contributed papers for the conference, which was widely viewed as having made a significant contribution to the understanding and promotion of inclusive governance in South Asia.