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 towards moving Indonesia beyond its authoritarian past and towards its democratic future. Kemitraan was established as a multi-donor trust fund and managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 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.

In 2003 Kemitraan became an independent legal entity, being registered as a non-for-profit civil law association. At this time it concurrently remained a UNDP managed program until the end of 2009.

Since the beginning of 2010 Kemitraan has assumed full fiduciary responsibility and accountability for its programs and developments.