Founded in 1975, the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) is an internationally recognized non-profit organization that improves the lives of women and girls in developing countries.
Our approach is to work hand-in-hand with women leaders, local partners, and national and international organizations to give women the tools they need to improve their lives, families and communities.
What we do?
CEDPA is an international leader in designing and implementing programs to improve the lives of women and girls. At the core of our work is the belief that women are critical for advancing global development, democracy and progress.
CEDPA's programs:
- increase educational opportunities for girls and youth;
- ensure access to lifesaving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS information and services; and
- strengthen women’s ability to become leaders in their communities and nations.
To ensure that women have the skills to advance development in their nations, CEDPA also sponsors global training programs to build leadership abilities, technical expertise and program management skills on a range of critical issues.
CEDPA's Strategic Approach
CEDPA’s approach emerged from 30 years of work to advance international development. It ensures that energetic, committed local leaders have the practical skills to mobilize communities around issues of common concern, the ability to leverage organizational resources, and tenacity to build coalitions to achieve change.
Our approach involves three inter-related strategies:
1.We train women leaders:
CEDPA seeks to unleash the leadership potential of women. Our appreciative training approach focuses not only on building core competencies, but also on building confidence.
2.We partner to strengthen local institutions:
CEDPA supports and partners with organizations in country, particularly those that promote women and women’s networks. We do this by supporting local organizations through training programs in organizational management, on-site technical assistance, and small grants.
3.We mobilize and advocate for policy, social norm and behavior change that supports social development:
CEDPA mobilizes women, men and youth as advocates to achieve a major shift in global priorities related to education, health and development. This experience now informs our social mobilization and advocacy approach in other sectors. CEDPA brings networks and coalitions together to create social support for issues of concern to them.
Through sub-grants and technical assistance to local partners, CEDPA strengthens community organizations for lasting change. We have awarded nearly $100 million in sub-grants to local organizations and women’s groups throughout our 30-year history.
With a global training program, CEDPA has trained more than 5,200 women, men and youth who are now leading change for women and girls in countries from Albania to Zambia. These alumni reinvest the skills they gained in CEDPA workshops through their work to deliver health services, improve education programs, advocate policy reform and lead their nations.
CEDPA's headquarters are in Washington, DC, and we have offices in India, Nepal, Nigeria, and South Africa.
With our many worldwide partners, CEDPA is building a groundswell of change agents for effective international development.
