Justice, Development and Peace/Caritas Work in Nigeria.

History of JDPC & Caritas Vision of the Church Organogram Aims of JDPC/Caritas Operational Team

Human Rights and Good Governance Oil and Gas Extractives Advocacy Emergency, Peacebuilding and Caritas Think Tank and Thematic

Election Monitoring Making oil and gas wealth Lenten Campaign

Director Program Manager Secretary Driver

Reports on 2007 Election Operational Guidelines Lenten Campaign Guide Annual Report 2006, 2007 Network Vision Travesty of Oil and Gas Wealth Civic Education

Post Election Evaluation Community Animators reporting Lenten Campaign Feedback Oil and Gas Desk Officers

The JDP/Caritas Nigeria is an important agent for social action of the Catholic Church in Nigeria. Its purpose is to apply the values of the gospel and the principles of the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church to the problems of humanity with the view to promote the attainment of social justice, human development and sustainable peace in the country. JDP/Caritas also serves to defend the poor and weak as well as advocate for justice, following the precepts of the scriptures (cf. Ex. 22: 21-22; Is 1:17; 58:6-7; Mt. 25: 31, 34).
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) mandated the JDP/Caritas, at the National level, to get involved in activities that promote democratic development in Nigeria, especially as these would enhance electoral processes.

Previously, JDPC (Justice, Development and Peace Commission) and Caritas operated separately under two Episcopal Committees. This created overlapping of duties. As a result, a review panel was constituted and following their recommendations, the two units were merged to become one Episcopal Committee under the Directorate of the Department of Church and Society. This merger has enhanced the operational efficiency of the Department in the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria.

The JDP/C planned to deploy 30,000 observers; however, this became unattainable due to lack of resources occasioned by last minute disappointments from some of our supporters.
North Central: Abuja, Benue, Nassarawa, Kogi, Kwara, Niger, Plateau; North East: Adamawa, Bauchi, Bornu; North West: Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto: South East: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo; South South: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Rivers: South West: Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun
Bomadi Vicariate covers Bayelsa and Delta States

The National JDP/Caritas as a unit of the Department of Church and Society in the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) was directed to sensitize faithful citizens and the whole nation towards safeguarding their democratic rights and duties. It was at the same time mandated to observe the conduct of the 2007 general elections in the country.
The under girding expectation was that the programs of political education and election observation would contribute towards a mature democratic behavior in Nigerians as well as the institutions involved in the preparation and conduct of transparent, free and fair elections. Furthermore the program was designed to enable the Nigerian Church, through (CBCN) to take a stand on the election results, in order to make substantial impact on the democratic process in the country.

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