About US

An Intermediary NGO.

About us

The development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) is registered intermediary non-profit organization established with a mission of strengthening the capacity (organizational and technical capacity) of civil society organizations to design and implement transformative and sustainable development interventions which engage government and address felt needs of the vulnerable and excluded such as women and girls. Our vision is for an ethical, inclusive and sustainable model of development engaging beneficiaries, civil society organizations as catalytic agents of change and government agencies for scale up, sustainability and ensuring public interest and public good.

Mission

The mission of the dRPC is to – catalyze inclusive, localized and transformative development policies and humanitarian responses through the capacity strengthening of civil society organizations and change makers to enable them to engage government, at all levels, to design, implement, evaluate and reform policies and programs which especially benefit the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized with particular reference to women, youth and girls.

Vision

A Nigeria and a West Africa sub-region with an evidence driven development decisional space where civil society groups, community leaders and beneficiaries of women and girls, youth, and other disadvantaged demographics are consulted with their representation and lived experiences mainstreamed into the design, implementation, and evaluation of sustainable policies, programs, and projects

Our History

The development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) was formed in Kano by Lecturers from BUK and ABU in May 1994 and first registered in 1995 against the background weak civil society presence in the development landscape. The earliest projects implemented by the dRPC in its formative days involved civil society capacity building and re-granting under the Bernard Van Leer Foundation funded Early Childhood Development Community Based Organization project; the NACA/HAF I, CSO Capacity Building Program; and the MacArthur Foundation funded NGO Capacity Building Program designed and implemented by the Management of the dRPC. Since its formation the dRPC has consistently designed and managed development projects where it has trained, mentored, provided seed funds to CSOs and numerous government Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) at national and state levels supporting both groups for effective participation in policy dialogues, project incubation design, gender audits, sustainability planning, and community action research.

Awards and Commendations

Memberships, Partnerships and Affiliations

Ashoka Innovators recognizes as a Fellow and leader in the field of development project monitoring and evaluation, Judith-Ann Walker, one of the founding members of the dRPC and the current Coordinator. Dr. Walker has been a fellow of Ashoka Innovators since 2001, working in the specialized area of development projects, monitoring, evaluation and learning- https://www.ashoka.org/en-ng/fellow/judith-ann-walker.

The dRPC collaborated with the West Africa Civil Society Institute in 2021 to train CSO sub-grantees on financial management, financial management and leadership.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Institute (M&E Institute) http://www.mandeinstitute.com/ and Statisense StatiSense – …making sense of numbers StatiSense – …making sense of numbers

The dRPC is recognized as the No 52 think tank in Africa in the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=think_tanks/
The dRPC has formal collaborations with the Health Promotions Department, Federal Ministry of Health; the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies; and the Open Government Partnership

The dRPC has collaborated with the University of Leiden, the Netherlands since 2015 to support students conducting research on Nigeria.
dRPC is a member of the Inclusive Education and Early Childhood Community of Practice. The group focuses on knowledge sharing and advocacy for inclusive education and early childhood funding and prioritization, especially for children in marginalized groups. The group members work together to ensure quality, inclusive education and early childhood support for all children, including children with disabilities.