The Centre for Democracy and Development
(CDD) was established in the United Kingdom in 1997 as an independent,
not-for-profit, research training, advocacy and capacity building organisation.
The purpose was to mobilise global opinion and resources for democratic
development and provide an independent space to reflect critically on the
challenges posed to the democratisation and development processes in West
Africa.
CDD set out to generate dialogue on
alternative pathways that are universally relevant and context sensitive. The
first activity of the Centre was a roundtable organised in London in 1997 on
the democratic future of Nigeria (then under military dictatorship). CDD
activities have since grown not only in Nigeria but in the entire West African
sub-region and the rest of the continent.
The Centre remains focused on capacity
building work, policy advocacy, and as a research reference point on democratic
governance, human security, people-centred development and human rights.
The
CDD’s mission is to be the prime catalyst and facilitator for analysis and
capacitybuilding for sustainable democracy and development in the West African
sub-region. CDD programmes are conceptualised to develop the
organisation’sregional vocation and are aimed at:
I.Developing a capacity building strategy
to increase its impact on democracy and development in all countries in the
West African sub-region.
II. Developing partnerships and building
synergy with civil society organisations, regional institutions and development
partners in West Africa and beyond.
Core
thematic areas of work
i. Promoting Peace and Human Security in
West Africa in concert with regional institutions and civil society.
ii. Deepening democratic governance through
strengthening political parties and promoting free and fair elections..
iii. Advancing people-centred development through raising
capacity for MDGs and Gender Sensitive Performance Budgeting.
iv. Improving the Environment and Resource
Governance through advancing capacity to promote Transparency, Accountability
and Anti-Corruption Strategies at the local, national, regional and
international levels.
v. Developing Women’s Rights and
Prioritising Gender as a Cross-Cutting theme in all Programmes.
Current CDD Projects and CDD programmes are
integrated in the following:
Peace
and Human Security
i. Deepening institutional capacity for
early warning and early response to conflicts in West Africa (DFID)
ii. Post Conflict Peace Building in Liberia
(DFID)
iii. Developing policy coherence for
regional conflict prevention in West African (OSIWA)
iv. Strengthening the ECOWAS framework for
conflict prevention in West Africa (CODESRIA/CDP)
Democratic
Governance
i. Monitoring Political Parties and
Democracy in West Africa (SIDA)
ii. Organising Mandate Protection for the 2007 Elections in
the South East Geopolitical Zone (UNDP Joint Donor Basket Fund)
iii. Organising Mandate Protection for the
2007 Elections in Lagos State (OSIWA)
iv.
Organising Mandate Protection for the 2007 Elections in Kano State
(National Endowment for Democracy)
v. Identifying and assessing institutional
models of democratic success in
West Africa (CDP/North Western
University)
vi. Writing/Organising NEPAD Peer
Governance Monitoring Index for West Africa (OSIWA)
vii. Producing/writing a chapter of the
Democracy and Political Governance of the National APRM report (Federal
Government of Nigeria)
MDGs
and Gender Budgeting
i. Promoting gender responsive budgeting in
West Africa through research, training and advocacy (OXFAM NOVIB)
ii.
Building legislative capacity for gender responsive budgeting in Nigeria
(Heinrich Boell Foundation)
iii. Policy advocacy for mainstreaming gender
budgeting into poverty reduction strategies in Nigeria (UNIFEM)
iv.Monitoring the use of the Debt Relief
Gains for MDG Programming (DFID/Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the
president on MDG’s)
Environment
and Resource Governance
i. Engendering Transparency in Public
Finance management through a monitoring of the poverty reduction strategies (NEEDS
and SEEDS; European Union)
Mission
Statement
To
be the prime catalyst and facilitator for strategic analysis and capacity
building for sustainable democracy and development.
Goal
Our goal is to serve as the ultimate
catalyst in he transformation of the West Africa Sub-continent into an
integrated, economically, vibrant and democratically governed community that
assures holistic security to the population capable of permanent peace and
conflict management.
CDD
Core Values
Inclusion,Plurality,Diversity,Tolerance,Accountability,Transparency,Humilty,Intergrity,Openess,Freedom
of expression, Social responsibility, Commitment to feminist principles,
Culture of collegiality without compromising professionalism.
