Origins |
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Canada provided the impetus to get the Forum off the ground with an inaugural world conference held in 1999 at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. That first conference led to the founding of the Forum as an ongoing institution, based in Ottawa. Four consecutive International Conferences were organized in Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Ethiopia. After the 2005 Conference in Belgium and the adherence of a number of partner countries to the Forum, the Forum became a truly international organization. Ten governments have now signed agreements with the Forum and they are represented on the Forum’s Strategic Council, supporting Forum activities and providing expertise. These countries are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Switzerland. The Forum has opened field offices in Ethiopia, Sudan, Nepal and Nigeria. Over the years, the Forum has expanded the focus of its work to include not only established federal countries but also countries in post-conflict situations adopting federal forms of governance and those involved in processes of devolution and decentralization.
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