The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) officially launched its Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Code of Conduct and Ethics on September 1, 2012 with fifteen signatories representing regional and national networks from throughout the region. The official launch of the Code is the culmination of a process which started as early as 2002 when CPDC developed the first draft of the Code of Conduct. During 2012, the Code was redrafted by a regional NGO working group and circulated widely throughout the NGO community for comments and feedback.

The Code reflects the growth of the NGO sector as it attempts to proactively address issues of transparency and accountability. It addresses critical areas of NGO donor, government and stakeholder engagement. It frontally speaks to the issue of the professional ethics, the responsibility of NGOs to be financially accountable not only to donors but also to stakeholders, the ethics involved in fundraising and the issue of the neutrality, autonomy and independence of the sector.

Over the 2016-2017 period, the CPDC hosted a series of Consultations around the NGO Code of Conduct in 13 countries across the Caribbean. The overall objectives sought to promote the NGO Code of Conduct & Ethics as a tool to facilitate good relations between and amongst civil society and other stakeholders, and to further strengthen institutional and organizational capacity and legitimacy of NGOs across the CARIFORUM region to influence key national development policies and actions.

The initial signatories to the Code of Conduct and Ethics are: