Draft:Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives
Pakistani civil society organisation working on peace and development
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The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit civil society organisation based in Islamabad, Pakistan, registered under Section 42 of the Companies Act 2017.[1] Established in September 2003, it conducts research and policy advocacy on transparency, right to information, local governance, budget accountability, rule of law, and democratic development.[1][2] The organisation has drawn coverage from major Pakistani newspapers and has been cited by international bodies including Transparency International and Amnesty International in assessments of governance and civil liberties in Pakistan.[3][4]
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سینٹر فار پیس اینڈ ڈویلپمنٹ انیشیٹوز | |
| Abbreviation | CPDI |
|---|---|
| Formation | September 2003 |
| Type | Non-governmental organisation |
| Legal status | Non-profit |
| Purpose | Governance, transparency, right to information, democratic development, peace |
| Headquarters | Islamabad, Pakistan |
Region served | Pakistan |
Official language | English, Urdu |
Executive Director | Mukhtar Ahmed Ali |
| Website | www |
History
CPDI was established in September 2003 by a group of citizens who held that issues of peace and development in Pakistan required an integrated approach.[1] Among its earliest externally funded activities was a project begun in February 2006, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, on strengthening civil society accountability in Rawalpindi district.[5]
CPDI was among the founding member organisations of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) when it was launched in 2006 to undertake domestic election observation in Pakistan.[6] FAFEN later conducted the largest domestic election observation campaigns in Pakistani history, deploying tens of thousands of trained observers at the general elections of 2008, 2013, and 2018.[7]
The organisation's advocacy and watchdog work on issues including police accountability, right to information, and budget transparency brought it repeated coverage in Dawn from as early as 2005.[8] By the 2010s, CPDI had expanded its programme areas and was operating across all four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory.[2]
Work
Transparency and right to information
According to Dawn, CPDI has been among the most active civil society organisations advocating for right to information legislation in Pakistan. Dawn identified the organisation as being on the forefront of activism around access to information and open governance, and quoted CPDI's representative Zahid Abdullah as attributing the slow implementation of RTI laws to institutional resistance within the bureaucracy while noting gradual improvement over time.[2]
In 2017, CPDI analysed the right to information laws across Pakistan's federal and provincial governments against a 140-point scorecard. It found the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013 to be the strongest (139 points), with the federal Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 and the Balochistan Freedom of Information Act 2005 among the weakest (30 points each).[9] In the same year, the organisation wrote to the Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Information to flag shortcomings in the draft Right of Access to Information Act 2017.[10]
In March 2024, CPDI publicly urged the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, to enforce the Balochistan Right to Information Act 2021, noting that more than three years had elapsed without the required appointments to the Balochistan Information Commission.[11]
A 2024 submission to the UN Human Rights Committee by Amnesty International cited a CPDI publication on reform of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 as documentary evidence in its assessment of freedom of expression in Pakistan.[4]
Budget transparency
CPDI tracks and analyses government budget documents at federal and provincial levels, working through the Citizens Network for Budget Accountability (CNBA), a network spanning over 100 districts.[12] In its State of Budget Transparency Report 2025, presented at a media briefing, CPDI found that budget transparency across Pakistan remained limited and uneven, with key fiscal documents not consistently published, parliamentary engagement characterised by weak scrutiny, and implementation-phase reporting frequently delayed.[12] The report found Punjab to perform relatively better than other regions, while Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan were identified as lagging behind.[12]
In June 2019, CPDI commented publicly on the federal budget for fiscal year 2019–20, expressing concern over reduced development allocations for education and health sectors, and questioning the government's capacity to disburse a significantly increased climate change allocation given historic underspending in that sector.[13]
Local governance
Executive Director Mukhtar Ahmed Ali was quoted by The Express Tribune in 2026 in a report on provincial fiscal devolution, stating that the spirit of the 18th Constitutional Amendment remained unfulfilled because provinces had failed to devolve political, administrative, and financial authority to local governments as required under Article 140A of the Constitution.[14]
Rule of law and police accountability
From its early years, CPDI engaged in watchdog work on police practices. In September 2005, it called on senior federal and provincial police officials to address irregularities in the maintenance of the Roznamcha (police station daily diary), arguing that the use of erasable pencil for entries created opportunities for abuse and frustrated the legal requirement under the Police Rules 1934 to record arrests accurately.[8]
Public health advocacy
CPDI participated in the TRANSFORM Pakistan Campaign, a coalition advocating for regulation of industrially produced trans fats in food products. Executive Director Mukhtar Ahmed Ali was quoted by The News International as stating that CPDI was in contact with the Ministry of Health, the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), and provincial food regulatory bodies on enforcement following Pakistan's failure to meet the World Health Organization's 2023 deadline to eliminate such fats from food sources.[15]
Election observation
CPDI was among the founding members of the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) in 2006.[6] FAFEN went on to conduct the largest domestic election observation campaigns in Pakistani history, deploying more than 40,000 trained observers at the 2013 general elections and over 43,000 at the 2018 general elections, and was the only civil society organisation summoned by the Supreme Court of Pakistan's Judicial Commission that investigated allegations of rigging in the 2013 elections.[7]
CPDI separately leads the Pakistan Alliance for Inclusive Elections (PAIE), a coalition of civil society organisations that engages the Election Commission of Pakistan on the accessibility of electoral processes for persons with disabilities, women, and elderly voters, and has conducted accessibility audits of polling stations in multiple districts.[16]
Recognition and citation by external bodies
The Transparency International Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index (2015) identified CPDI as among the civil society organisations in Pakistan working on corruption and transparency issues.[3] Amnesty International cited CPDI's published analysis of PECA reforms in a 2024 submission to the UN Human Rights Committee as documentary evidence on freedom of expression conditions in Pakistan.[4]
Partnerships and affiliations
CPDI holds membership in numerous national and international networks. These include the UNCAC Coalition, the Freedom of Information Advocates Network, the South Asian Alliance for Budget Accountability (SAABA), the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA), the United Nations NGO Major Group, the Citizens Network for Budget Accountability (CNBA), the Pakistan Coalition for Education, the Pakistan Alliance for Inclusive Elections (PAIE), the Coalition for Right to Information (CRTI), and the Coalition for Elections and Democracy (CED).[17]