Portuguese NGDO Platform

The Portuguese Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs) Platform is a private non-profit organization that represents a group of 61 NGDOs, registered in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Created on March 1985, it is the result of the combination of the idiosyncrasies of its member organizations and their need to position themselves as privileged interlocutors of the Portuguese government and international organizations, in the building process of cooperation and development policies. The Platform represents and supports Portuguese NGDOs at a national and international level, contributing to strengthen the intervention of the civil society in the areas of Development Cooperation, Humanitarian and Emergency Aid and Development Education. In this way, it empowers NDGOs and contributes to create a fairer and more equitable world. Mission The Portuguese NGDO Platform’s mission is to contribute to improve and foster NGDOs’ work, at political, legal and social levels, promoting best practices. The Platform works with NGDOs promoting a fairer and more equitable world close to developing countries, in areas like Development Cooperation, Education and Communication and Humanitarian and Emergency Aid. Goals The Platform main goals are: Promoting an increasingly inclusive society, in which values like equity and solidarity are true; Building collaborative platforms allowing the development of societies based in diversity and respect for fundamental human rights; Encouraging non-discrimination policies and promote the dignity of all human beings; Monitoring and influence the design, implementation and evaluation of development and cooperation policies at national and international levels; Establishing itself as an important interlocutor for both governmental and supra-governmental organizations in Development Cooperation issues. 30 years working for Development On 23rd March 1985, the Portuguese NGDOs Platform was officially created, immediately before the Portuguese accession to the European Community. The founding group, consisting of 13 non-governmental organizations, was formed by very different associations that shared the desire to work in the cooperation area. The basis for this collective work organization is the commitment to integrate and promote the work of international organizations that proclaim the support to developing countries as an essential duty. The goal was to create an organization that would promote dialogue between different entities, both private and public, based on solidarity and collaborative work, facilitating development cooperation programs and activities coordination, with national and international visibility. These 30 years have featured progresses and setbacks, but the perseverance and commitment of those working with the Platform and NGDOs give us hope in the future. Society and NGDOs are facing a difficult time, but the Platform will carry on the work with its member organizations, contributing to enable them to become more and more active and participative in the decision-making and implementation of Portuguese cooperation policies. We are sure that NGDOs will and are facing those difficulties and uncertainty with their adaptability skills and that they will carry on the fight for universal values of solidarity, dialogue, social justice and the right to a sustainable development of all countries and people. Thematic focus

• Social justice
• Solidarity and dialogue
• Right to sustainable development
• Development cooperation
• Humanitarian and Emergency aid
• Development education