The Society for International Development (SID) is an international network of individuals and organizations founded in 1957 to promote socio-economic justice and foster democratic participation in the development process. It celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2017. Through programmes and activities at national, regional and global levels, SID strengthens collective knowledge and action on people-centered development strategies and promotes policy change towards inclusiveness, equity and sustainability. SID has approximately 3,000 members scattered around the world and works with local chapters, institutional members and partner organizations in more than 50 countries.

SID’s activities are facilitated by an International Secretariat with offices in Rome (headquarters) and Nairobi. The Development Journal (published by Springer Nature) has been SID’s flagship publication since its inception and enjoys broad readership within the development community.

SID co-facilitates, or plays an active role within the facilitation of many civil platforms, including the Civil Society Financing for Development Group and the Civil Society Nutrition Group, among others. It is an active member of the Reflection Group on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and contributes to the annual publishing of the Spotlight Report on Sustainable Development. It also co-facilitates many workstreams within the Civil Society Mechanism for the Committee on World Food Security. It is an active member of the Global Network on the Right to Food and Nutrition, including the annual publishing of the Right to Food Watch. SID is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Geneva Global Health Hub.

Values and programmatic focus

SID’s inspiring values are the respect for human dignity, the centrality of human rights and the utmost commitment for social justice and gender equality. SID’s current focus springs from its long-lasting engagement on human rights and inequalities and is based on the following key pillars:

• Human rights as the cornerstone of democratic governance and normative guidance at all levels;
• Multidimensional inequalities as the descriptive, analytical and normative framework to assess development challenges and guide development policies;
• A key focus on socio-economic transformation at all levels (micro, meso and macro) as the necessary strategy to tackle inequalities, fulfill human rights, and promote equity and justice;
• Food sovereignty and agroecology as the fundamental paradigms to guide the transition of food systems that can ensure livelihoods, ecological sustainability, cultural diversity, and healthy and sustainable diets;
• The democratization of global economic governance as the stepping-stone for the removal of the structural and systemic barriers to socio-economic transformation within existing economic, financial, climate, trade and monetary frameworks.

Read more about SID's programmes here.

Organizational framework

SID is a membership organization and, every four years, SID members elect a Governing Council of max 15 individuals, with regional and gender balance. The Council elects a President (Chair of the Council) and nominates a Managing Director (Chief Executive Officer). The current Governing Council was elected in the last quarter of 2016 and its mandate covers the 2017-2020 period. The current SID President is Larry Cooley (USA), while SID’s Managing Director is Stefano Prato (Italy).

SID was incorporated in 1957 in the District of Columbia (USA) as a non-for-profit corporation. The International Secretariat was relocated to Rome in 1978 and remained there ever since. SID is also registered in Nairobi, Kenya, where it maintains its Regional Office for Africa. At the moment, SID maintains regular staff in Italy, Kenya, Uganda, India and the USA.

Consultative Status

SID enjoys the highest consultative status, Category I, with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). SID additionally maintains consultative status with IFAD, ILO, FAO, UNCTAD, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA and UNICEF.