Jakarta, 10 December 2021 (TDI): The 14th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) was held in Indonesia, yesterday. The agenda of the Summit was to assess the democracy of the world. Indonesia along with the United Nations urged the world to adopt a more inclusive global economic system.
The theme of the 14th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) of 2021 is “Democracy for Humanity: Advancing Economic and Social Justice during the Pandemic.”
The President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo addressed the participants of the Summit. This year, the Summit is being held online because of the Covid-19 threat, specifically the latest Omicron variant. Indonesia is committed to promoting democracy and human rights at the regional as well as global levels.
Address of Indonesian President at the Forum
According to President Joko Widodo, the yearly forum on democracy development in Asia-Pacific created by Indonesia is the embodiment of Indonesia’s commitment to the cause.
He highlighted that the BDF is a transnational platform to communicate standpoints on democracy without holding anyone responsible. It serves to swap the most promising techniques on how to strengthen democracy as well as tackle the issue related to democracy.
Joko Widodo further reiterated that democracy is a universal value. Nevertheless, the values, the exclusivities of people, and the aspirations must be preserved. Doing so can be called homegrown democracy.
He emphasized that the BDF also involves businesspeople, civilians, and youth; as they are an integral pillar of democracy. Moreover, Indonesia will continue to promote democracy in the Southeast Asia region, along with other ASEAN countries.
Indonesia established the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. Ever since, it has been consistently sending representatives of civil society to the commission, as delegates.
Furthermore, the country also revived the ASEAN Human Rights Dialogue, following its suspension for nine years. ASEAN Human Rights Dialogue is the ASEAN version of Universal Periodic Review.
In addition, the Indonesian President underscored that his country was the first to volunteer for the review and even now it continues to promote human rights and democracy. He also reaffirmed his country’s commitment to Myanmar and Afghanistan.
Address of Indonesian Foreign Minister at the Forum
The Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Retno L.P. Marsudi also addressed the occasion. Whilst speaking to the attendees she welcomed them to the Summit.
She stated that due to the rampant pandemic and lockdowns and then later the vaccination drive, the mindset of the world has changed from survival to recovery.
Retno Marsudi underscored that the pandemic has further worsened things for democracy. Quoting statistics by the 2021 Report by Freedom House, she shared that freedom has been decreasing for 15 successive years, globally.
Moreover, approximately 75% of the global population lives in countries that faced democratic challenges during the last year.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister urged the participants to come together for a better world. For that, equality, inclusive policies, and just global economic architecture should be adopted all across the world.
Bali Democracy Forum
The Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) was founded in 2008 to build a refined democratic architecture in the Asia-Pacific region. In the past decades, the Forum encouraged dialogues via intercommunication to encourage mutual understanding, equality, and respect.
Furthermore, the BDF has made the notion of democracy a strategic agenda in the Asia-Pacific region. The diverse themes that have been debated in the BDF have generated new ideas amongst countries.
