The Partnership for Governance Reform, or KEMITRAAN, was established in 2000 following Indonesia’s first free and fair elections for two generations in 1999. These historic elections represented an important step along the path towards moving Indonesia beyond its authoritarian past and towards its democratic future.

KEMITRAAN was founded and led by a number of prominent Indonesian leaders from the government, civil society and the private sector to promote principles of good governance along the transition period. It was first established as a multi-donor trust fund, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and administered under UNDP in 2000.

In 2003, KEMITRAAN became an independent legal entity, being registered as a non-for-profit civil law association (Perkumpulan). At this time it continued to operate under UNDP systems and procedures until the end of 2009. 

From the beginning of 2010, KEMITRAAN has operated with fully accountable systems to meet the fiduciary responsibilities of being both a funding intermediary and a recipient of resources. It has managed over 400 projects amounting to more than US$ 160 million since 2000.