Center for the Defence of Human Rights - CDDH
http://www.cddh.org.br

Functioning organically since 1979, the CDDH has been giving, during this time, innumerable contributions to the growth of popular organizations and consequently has assisted in their fight for fundamental Human Rights.

The CDDH was born in a very fruitful time for Popular Movements in Brazil and Latin America: syndicate centers, popular movement centers, popular pastoral movements, Ecclesiastical Base Communities, popular political parties, indigenous people movements, movements of blacks, women, the displaced, the homeless, for healthcare and many others.

All these base movements received a strong impulse from important sectors of churches which were committed to development of citizenship and the transformation of society, starting with the impoverished. Libation Theology became, then, the inspiration of large groups of Christians (and even non-Christians) who developed their political practice based in their faith.

The main objective of the CDDH is development of full citizenship for the impoverished and for those excluded from society, starting from their own social setting, working as much as possible to keep them as the subject of this process. We understand full citizenship to be integral respect of all human rights and the existence of material, social, political and cultural conditions, which perpetuate this process throughout generations. It involves the development of a human society that is truly democratic and participatory, that recognizes the differences and the rights of minorities, and that is inherently fraternal and expressive of solidarity.

In seeking to maintain the maximum of coherence with the general objective and striving so that it is at the heart of each activity developed by the CDDH, the following points have been placed as specific project objectives:

Assistance to Popular Movements
Stimulation of community organization
Judicial assistance to popular movements struggles
Education about human rights
Organization of production groups
Job training for adolescents

Address:
Rua Monsenhor Bacelar 400
25685-100 Petrópolis, RJ
tel/fx +55 24 2242 2462