Who we Are!
MISSION OF JDPC: Our corporate Mission as JDPC is the promotion of sustainable and integral human development through holistic empowerment approach, enhancing effective structural transformation of the society without any form of discrimination.
VISION OF JDPC: our Vision is a community where justice and promotion of human dignity are held sacred; such that all are fully alive and active through the realization of their full potentials in a just, safe and free environment.
The JDPC Unit is a constituent unit of the Church and Society Department and functions at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
The JDPC remains relevant to the church and society in Nigeria as a result of the following guiding policies:
- Human Resource
- Child Policy
- Staff Policy
- Finance Policy
- Employment Policy
- Training Policy
- Procurement Policy
- Volunteer Policy
JDPC is an acroymn for Justice, Development and Peace Commision. The Justice, Development and Peace Commission, is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria. As a registered Non-Governmental Organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria, JDPC main concern is to bring about the Kingdom of God by liberating men and women from every oppressive force that keeps them under bondage irrespective of race, religion, creed and gender.
JDPC, continues to answer in concrete terms, the challenging question posed at the beginning of the Special Synod for Africa held in Rome, 1994. “What must the Church in Africa become for her message to be authentic and credible?” The answer to the question is “the Church must be prophetic”: that is naming the social evils of our time and addressing them concretely in line with the life and teaching of Christ. The Commission’s activities cover the 36 states and FCT.
The JDPC, is a national network of 54 Catholic Dioceses in Nigeria. The coordination is further broken down to Provincial, Diocesan and Parish levels. With other civil society groups in Nigeria, JDPC plays a leadership role that is recognised by all. Today all the different layers of the Social Forum, from the state through the provincial to the national levels are being led by the National office of JDPC/ Caritas.
JDPC is a structural response of the Catholic Church to the call of the Second Vatican Council. In a very important document of the Council, Populorum Progressio of 1967, Pope Paul VI wrote:
The progressive development of peoples is an object of deep interest and concern to the Church. This is particularly true in the case of those peoples who are trying to escape the ravages of hunger, poverty, endemic diseases and ignorance; of those who are seeking a larger share in the benefits of civilization and a more active improvement on their human qualities; of those who are consciously striving for fuller growth with an even clearer awareness. Since the Second Vatican Council, of the demands imposed by Christ’s gospel in this area, the Church judges it her duty to help all people explore this serious problem in all dimensions, and to impress upon them the need for concerted action at this critical juncture. [No. 1]
It was with this desire that Paul VI created the Pontifical Commission, JUSTICIA ET PAX on January 6th 1967. The purpose of the Commission is to awaken in the people of God full awareness of their mission today; to further the progress of poorer nations and international social justice, to further their own development and for more justice and peace in the society. Our corporate mission as JDPC is the promotion of sustainable and integral human development through holistic empowerment approach, enhancing effective structural transformation of the society without any form of discrimination. In carrying out our work at JDPC, we are guided by the following ethical values proposed by the Church to the entire world for an inclusive and caring society:
Fundamental human dignity: All human beings, men and women are created in God’s own image, endowed with inalienable dignity and rights. We should therefore treat one another with equal consideration and respect regardless of race, age, creed, gender or status. The principle of human dignity is the basis of a moral vision for a society that regards the human person not as a means but always as an end.
The common good: Respect for each and everyone’s dignity establishes a common ground that makes social life livable. Stemming from our common humanity, the principle of the common good addresses the good of all people and of the whole person. Because it is common to all, it cannot be divided like a cake but must increase through joint effort. What is common to all peoples is what promotes the dignity of all: “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.
The principle of Subsidiarity: The Church recognizes the interconnectedness of various forms of social life in promoting integral human development but at the same time establishes an order of precedence: “the individual and the family precede the state; that is, individuals do not exist for the state but rather the state exists for the well-being of individuals and families entrusted to its care”. Simply put, what individual persons and lower organizations can do should not be taken up by higher ones.
The principle of Solidarity: According to the Church’s teaching, “Solidarity highlights in a particular way the intrinsic social nature of the human person, the equality of all in dignity and rights and the common path of individuals and peoples towards an ever more committed unity.”Because of our common humanity, solidarity urges us to improve our relationships by turning the structures of sin into structures of solidarity through the creation or appropriate modification of laws, market regulations, and juridical systems. As a social principle, solidarity is a form commitment to act justly, promote social justice and the common good.
At JDPC we adopt and adapt participatory approaches that empower poor people to meet their basic needs and become full actors of their destinies; indeed, we see ourselves as catalysts for grassroots mobilization to enable those excluded to take local action to overcome oppressive structures that keep them in bondage. We believe in creative and cooperative solidarity, partnering with a wide range of civil society actors to promote a pro-poor policy environment, where the basic rights of the people are secured.
Through workshops, seminars, training programmes, lectures, production of posters, pamphlets, text books, magazines, etc, JDPC informs, educates and conscientises the public so as to enhance their ability to defend and preserve their God-given and inalienable human dignity.
JDPC Unit - Church And Society Department
Phone: 0803-586-8592
Email: jdpc@csn-churchandsociety.org
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