History
CAAGLOP is an African NGO based in Dakar, Senegal. It was created in 2004 in response to the growing need to develop the culture of public expression of opinion, consultation and participation of Africans in the issues that affect them. CAAGLOP believes it is the responsibility of African societies to rise up with a sense of responsibility and commitment to combat hunger, poverty, unemployment, human rights abuses, the AIDS pandemic, poor leadership and corruption. Its focus is to improve the dialogue that will lead to better definition and improved development of policies in African countries. CAAGLOP seeks to encourage the mainstreaming of participation into the process of developing and applying policies.
CAAGLOP has been able to operate because of the significant support it has received from over 400 United Nations Volunteers (UNV) online from at least 28 countries across the world.
Mission
The Center for African Affairs and Global Peace’s (CAAGLOP) mission is to encourage the involvement of Africans in national and regional development through the use of local knowledge and personal involvement in order to develop mechanisms that will obtain effective and sustainable results in the fight against hunger, poverty, unemployment, human rights abuses and the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Its activities are aimed at providing information to a large number of Africans regarding issues that affect their daily lives and to provide a forum for self-expression as well as interacting with others on various social, political, health, economic and educational issues.
What We Do
CAAGLOP is an NGO with a clear mission aimed at creating a platform that will be used to provide information to various peoples on policy-related issues, and to encourage public participation to influence the development and implementation of policies. Its activities focus on reaching people in Africa and the diaspora to raise awareness as well as to promote dialogue between policy makers and the general public. This is an area that is much talked about but for which there are insufficient mechanisms in place for significant achievements to be made.
Who We Are
Founder/Executive Director
Victor Bassey, the Executive Director, is the founder of CAAGLOP. A lawyer, Mr. Bassey has over fifteen years of experience in governance, conflict resolution, advocacy and public service. Mr. Bassey’s early professional career started in public service in Nigeria. As State Auditor for the then National Center Party of Nigeria (NCPN), Senior Special Assistant on Political and Legislative Matters in Bureau for Inter-Governmental and National Assembly Relations, Akwa Ibom State Liaison Office, Abuja, Nigeria. Special Adviser on Youth and Sports, Abak Local Government Council, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Consultant on HIV/AIDS for UNESCO/BREDA Regional Office, Dakar, Senegal. Volunteer Placement with the Joint UNDP/UNESCO Project “Foundation for Africa’s Future Leadership”, hosted at UNESCO REGIONAL BUREAU for Education in Africa, Dakar, Senegal. Chairperson of the Akwa Ibom Youth Consultative Forum, Chairperson for Akwa Ibom Youth Parliament, Chairperson of Akwa Ibom Youth Joint Action Committee on Boundary Matters.
Board Members
Ana Garcia joined the Center for African Affairs and Global Peace in 2007. With extensive experience in the fields of public policies, facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes and civil society-government relations, from bases in London, Luxembourg and Brussels, she has worked at the European Parliament and for a non-profit association. Ms Garcia spent some time in Asia volunteering in an orphanage in Kolkata, India. She began her career at the European Commission and also worked at a contemporary art gallery. Ms Garcia graduated in economics and business studies from Oviedo University and holds Diplomas in European communities from the Diplomatic School in Madrid and in evaluation of development programmes from UOC in Barcelona.
Crystal Byrd: Before starting Econogroup in 2007, Ms. Byrd has worked on various independent projects with non-governmental organizations, charities and think tanks, assisting them with organizational development and project management, assessing the impact of risk for particular projects; developing project goals and focus, and composing projection plans. Ms. Byrd is a member of the Baltimore Project Management Institute and Affiliate Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)© member. She currently sits on the board of the Center for African Affairs and Global Peace (CAAGLOP; www.caaglop.org) as well as the International Child Empowerment Network (ICEN; www.icenworld.org). Ms. Byrd is also an Honorary Chairman of the Business Advisory Council. Ms. Byrd was raised in Baltimore, MD and received a Master's in International Public Administration from London Metropolitan University in 2005, and obtained her Bachelor of Science in International Business and Economics from Marymount Manhattan College in 2003.
Jatinder Narang, MD: Board member of Youth Program and Development Organization, that provides literacy support and financial assistance for various development projects to the youth in Zambia. Global Facilitor through Nabuur network for the Cochin village, India that provides assistance to mentally-handicapped children. He was articles editor for SGU gazette, the school newspaper during medical school.
Lisa Monaghan earned her BA degree in Modern History/Politics and an MA degree in International Politics, Queen’s University, Belfast. She is currently engaged in part-time PhD at Dublin City University, with specialization in the European Union and Human Rights. In addition to this she sits on the Board of Center for African Affairs and Global Peace, and an Internship at the Institute of Conflict Research, Belfast.
Martine K. Miller: Martine K. Miller joined the Center for African Affairs and Global Peace in 2008. With extensive experience in the fields of community-driven development, conflict management/transformation/peace building processes and organizational development, Ms. Miller has worked/consulted with Non-governmental/-profit Organizations (NGO), United Nations Agencies, etc. throughout the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. Currently, Ms. Miller is the Founder/Director of Defense for Children International-United States (DCI-USA) and a conflict transformation and organizational development consultant for national NGOs in Africa and Asia. She began her career at the United States Department of State’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and has worked diligently over the last several years to advance human rights, development and to secure peace in Asia and Africa, from Afghanistan to the Sudan. Ms. Miller graduated with Dual-Bachelors in Political Science and International Development Studies with a Minor in International Relations and a Certificate in African Studies in the United States. She completed a Masters in Political Science/Post-war Reconstruction and Development in the United Kingdom as well as participates in specialized course/trainings with the University of Colorado (UoC), with the guidance of Dr. Heidi and Guy Burgess, Transcend Peace University (TPU), under the guidance of Dr. Johann Galtung, the Human Rights Education Associates (HREA), etc. Ms. Miller will commence a Law Degree in September 2008 with the University of London with engaging as an active CAAGLOP member, etc. For further information about Ms. Miller, please see: Peace and Collaborative Development Network.
Sidney Yankson: Sidney Yankson joined Gladstone Morgan in Hong Kong in January 2005 as director for investment management. Drawing on his extensive experience in advising high net worth clients in Hong Kong, Singapore, Geneva, Sydney, New York and London, Mr. Yankson heads the company’s International Wealth Management and Corporate Financial Planning Practices and assists in the overall strategic development of the company in Asia. With his specialist investment background and broad technical knowledge, Mr. Yankson advises a wide range of private clients on all areas of their personal and corporate wealth. He is also an expert in offshore tax-efficient investments, portfolio construction and inheritance and capital gains tax mitigation. Prior to joining Gladstone Morgan, Mr. Yankson worked as Managing Director of Montpelier Private Clients, Senior International Wealth Manager at ING Financial Planning, private banker at Bank of Bermuda, and was an associate partner with St. James’s Place (formerly J. Rothschild Assurance). From 1995 to 1999 he was a partner with a city-based firm that represented Citibank Life where he was responsible for advising a more diverse range of UK based clients on the full range of investment, pension and protection products. He has also worked with Abacus Financial Consulting. His client base includes individuals from a wide range of firms and companies include JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Clifford Chance, Accenture and KPMG Private Bank. A professional adviser in the financial services industry since 1995, Mr. Yankson is a fully licensed financial consultant in the UK as well as Hong Kong and has completed advanced papers in taxation, trusts, derivatives and investment portfolio management. He is also a member of a number of professional bodies including the Institute of Directors, Institute of Financial Planning, Chartered Insurance Institute and Society of Financial Advisers.
Board of Advisors
Retired Chief Justice Mamadou Toure
» President of the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Senegal (CENA)
» Retired Chief Justice of the Republic of Senegal
Professor Souleymane Mboup
» Chief, Bacteriology-Virology Lab, University Hospital of Dakar
» Visiting Lecturer-Harvard School of Public Health
» Pharmacist Colonel in the Senegalese Armed Forces
» Chairman of the HIV sentinel surveillance program of the Senegalese National Committee of AIDS prevention
» Founding member, Chairman of West and Central African AIDS Research Network (WCAARN)
» First Chairman for Africa of the Civil-Military Alliance to combat HIV and AIDS President of the XVth International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa
» AAVP: African AIDS Vaccine Program (Chairman of the Bio-Medical Sciences Group)
» APHRC: African Population and Health Research Center (Board of Directors )
» AUVDT: African Union of Venereal Diseases and Treponematoses
» ENARP: Ethiopian The Netherlands AIDS Research Program (Scientific Advisory Committee) French Society of Microbiology
» IAS: International AIDS Society (Regional elected member for Africa, Board /executive committee member, Governing Council member)
» International Steering Committee for HIV Vaccine Development, WHO
» MURAZ Center, Bobo Dioulasso (Scientific Advisory Committee)
» National French Academy of Pharmacy (Corresponding member, 2002)
» Pasteur Institute Alumni
» Regional Experts Group on Essential Health Technologies, WHO
» SAA: African AIDS Society (Founding member)
» Senegalese Academy of Sciences
» Third World Academy of Sciences (2000)
» UNAIDS Network for HIV Isolation and Characterization
» UNAIDS Vaccine Advisory Committee
» World Federation of Scientists (World Laboratory, Italy)
» FIFA scientific Research Committee in HIV and Football
» AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation) Board Member
Senator Ndeye Fatou Toure
» Member of Parliament, the Republic of Senegal
Professor Ndiaw Diouf
» Dean, Faculty of Law and Political Science
University Cheikh Anta Diop
Dakar-Senegal
» Member of the Penal Code and Penal Procedural Code of Commission
» Coordinator of the team in charge of setting the arbitration center (Bissau-Guinea)
» Member of the Commission in charge of setting the drawing of the essential projects of modification of the Civil Procedural Code and Civil and Commercial obligations Code.
» Member of the specialized and technical committees of CAMES (African Council for Higher Education)
» President of the Senegalese Association of Business Law
» President of the scientific commission of the Senegalese Penal Law Association
Mame Awa Toure
» AIDS Research Specialist
Professor Charles B. U. Uwakwe
» Professor of Counselling and Health Psychology
University of Ibadan
Nigeria
Dr. Diane Abdoulaye
» Coordinator African-Asian Center
International School of Management
Point E
Dakar-Senegal