The Government of the Philippines and the Open Government Partnership (OGP) are dedicated to creating a safe and harassment-free environment for everyone attending the OGP Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting. We want you to feel welcome and empowered to participate regardless of who you are, and any defining characteristics you might have, including but not limited to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, physical appearance, nationality, race, age or religion.

To that end, this Code of Conduct promotes the values of respect, dignity and fairness, with the aim of enhancing this event's experience for all participants.

Principles for how we should interact as event participants:

• Encourage and promote inclusive behavior, making an effort to reduce barriers to participation and celebrate our diversity across experiences and cultures.
• Treat fellow participants with respect, dignity, and fairness.
• Do not harass or intimidate fellow participants or encourage others to engage in these behaviors.

Scope and Applicability

This Code of Conduct applies to any sessions, side-events, and networking sessions and receptions. The principles set out here also apply to digital activities (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other online media).

This Code of Conduct is effective as of early 2025. Conference organizers reserve the right to update this code until its effective date. We will notify you of any changes.

Principles

A) Encourage and promote inclusive behavior

• People from all over the world will be attending the OGP Regional Meeting, and it will be a great opportunity to be curious and learn from each other. It will also be an opportunity to exercise intercultural sensitivity and communication skills. We ask that you be respectful, aware, and accommodating of others' cultural practices, attitudes, and beliefs.
• The Regional Meeting is an excellent opportunity for networking, socializing and knowledge-sharing. Whenever possible, leave room for people to join groups, and make the effort to include others, especially those who are on their own.
• We will actively strive for regional, gender, racial and ethnic, religious, and ability diversity among organizers, moderators and panelists, to reflect the diversity of the open government community. This encourages participation from under-represented groups, and enriches participant experience. Further information on these particular expectations have been provided to session organizers, including the expectation of having diverse panels and that no panels will consist exclusively of male speakers.

B) Treat fellow participants with respect, dignity, and fairness

The Regional Meeting is designed to be an environment that fosters dynamic discourse, tough dialogue and professional conversations. You will encounter people from all knowledge levels and walks of life. It is not expected that you all share the same views and opinions, however we do expect any disagreement to be voiced in a respectful manner.

Respect for others, and their contributions to dialogue, is critical to a positive experience for all. We expect you to have a high level of understanding for differences of opinion, abilities, knowledge bases, and skill levels. The Regional Meeting is an opportunity to collaborate and challenge ideas, not people.

C) Do not harass or encourage others to engage in harassment

Harassment in all forms is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Every participant has the right to an environment which protects human rights, promotes mutual respect and trust, and fosters inclusion.

This behavior includes, but is not limited to:

• angry, offensive, aggressive or unwelcome communications (e.g. the use of discriminatory language, epithets or language that ridicules, insults, or shows hostility or disrespect toward any individual or group);
• deliberate mis-gendering, or refusal to use preferred pronouns as displayed or requested;
• Sexually explicit or suggestive comments, images or gestures;
• Unwanted attention deliberate intimidation or silencing, threats, bullying, stalking, or unwanted following (see below - add to unwanted attention);
• Non-consensual or intimidating photography or recording;
• Sustained disruption of discussion or events;
• Non-consensual publication of private comments;
• Inappropriate, intimidating, or unwelcome physical contact; and
• Unwanted attention or unwanted following
• Threats of violence, or the use of violence by others

We also acknowledge that harassment may not be intentional. You may not be aware of others' beliefs and norms, so please ask before acting.

Enforcement

Participants (including staff, volunteers, session organizers, speakers, vendors and participants) are expected to understand and abide by this Code of Conduct.

Participants who commit or perpetuate harassing behavior, or violate this Code of Conduct in any other way will be asked to stop and will be expected to immediately comply.

Organizers may take any actions they deem appropriate as redress, including expulsion from the event. Organizers will strive to enforce this Code transparently and evenly.

If you're unsure of whether you have witnessed or experienced behavior that violates the Code of Conduct, let us know! We can work with you to assess and hopefully address the situation.

Reporting

If you witness, or would like to report harassment, violence, or abuse, please use the following procedure as best fits with the situation:

• Report to event staff on site - We have a process in place to make sure your concerns reach the right people.
• Send us an email - We have a generic inbox at asiapac@opengovpartnership.org that is confidential and monitored regularly by government officials.
• Contact security - You can contact security while at the venue.

Contributing to this Code of Conduct

Please help us make the 2025 OGP Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting a positive experience for everyone.

We are interested in hearing your thoughts. You can reach out to us at asiapac@opengovpartnership.org for any questions or feedback you may have about this Code of Conduct.