5 October 2011: The Oslo Governance Forum (OGF) on Governance Assessments for Social Accountability focused on participatory governance assessments and social accountability as a means for strengthening democratic governance at the national and international level. Discussion topics included governance for REDD+ and natural resource management.

The OGF took place in Oslo, Norway, from 3-5 October 2011, and was organized by the Government of Norway, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF).

The Forum discussed several thematic areas, including: governance for REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries) and natural resource management, including adapting and applying governance analysis and indicators to different sectors with a focus on forest governance, water governance and the extractive industries, and participatory monitoring and assessment tools in the forestry and extractive industries with focus on the engagement of special groups such as indigenous peoples; strengthening public service delivery; anti-corruption strategies, including participatory approaches to measuring integrity in sectors, and moving beyond the transparency agenda in extractive industries; and the role of governance assessment in political transformations and post-conflict countries, including the transformation after the Arab spring and governance assessment and accountability in building legitimacy in post-conflict and fragile states.

The Forum gathered about 250 practitioners, policy experts and leaders representing government, civil society, academia and international organizations from about 70 countries across the world. [Statement by UN Secretary-General] [Oslo Governance Forum Website]