The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) today officially launched a year-long calendar of activities to mark 25 years of its founding. Established in July 1998 to promote democracy, good governance and inclusive development in Ghana and the rest of Africa, CDD-Ghana has, over the course of the last two and a half decades, given voice to ordinary citizens through its public opinion surveys and other primary research; informed and empowered local communities and citizens to demand accountability from public authorities through its social accountability programs; engendered credible and peaceful elections in Ghana and Africa through its election observation networks; influenced legislative action through working with Parliament; promoted and protected the rights of the marginalized and vulnerable in society; and provided thought leadership and experience sharing on good democratic practices across Africa.

The Center has pursued its mission by drawing on diverse tools, including primary research, data and policy analysis, advocacy, training, coalition-building, and civic and policy engagement. These efforts have earned the Center a reputation as one of the leading democracy and governance policy research think tanks in Africa.

Under the theme, ‘Civil Society and the Quest for Democracy and Inclusive Development in Ghana and Africa: The Next 25 Years’, the Center will use this anniversary year to engage various audiences and stakeholders in Ghana and across the world to reflect on civil society’s role in building and sustaining democracy in Ghana and Africa during the last 25 years and the outlook for the next 25 years. 

The Center’s silver jubilee, which also coincides with the 30th anniversary of Ghana’s transition to democracy under the banner of the 4th Republic, comes at a most trying time for democracy both globally and regionally. Across Africa, citizens are expecting and demanding far more than they believe they are getting from the governments they elect. In our immediate neighborhood, nascent democratic projects in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea have succumbed to coups d’etat. Elsewhere in the region where democracy has not suffered fatal reversal, its quality has degraded over time, raising concerns about the future of democracy in West Africa. All of this is happening in a fast-changing global geopolitical and technological environment that presents enormous challenges and uncertainties for democracy.

In the coming weeks and months, the Center will initiate, stimulate and lead conversations with diverse audiences and actors around the theme for the anniversary with the aim of forging an agenda for the future. The year-long celebrations will include an editors’ forum, regional engagements, an international conference Ghana’s democracy at 30, a virtual homecoming for CDD alumni around the world, and many other activities.

Celebrate with us!