It’s made up of all IOPD members and it’s the sovereign body of the organization.
It’s made up of the Presidency, the General Secretary and the Regional Offices. It leads the IOPD in the assemblies period.
The presidency has the function of institutional and political leadership and representation of the network. It is composed of:
A local government which is an IOPD member holds it for a 3-year-period and it is renewable and it comprises the IOPD Technical Secretary. Its functions are, on the one hand, to manage the IOPD webpage, the experiences bank, the resources bank, the activities calendar and the news section; and on the other hand, to coordinate the IOPD activities, the different Regional Offices, and to represent the IOPD before various authorities it has links with.
The Promoters Members are local or regional governments that make a financial contribution substantial to the OIDP and are part of the steering committee. The promoting members are currently:
Formed by a group of experts in deliberative and participatory democracy as well as in urbanism, municipalism and the IOPD's field of work, this committee will advise the IOPD on its activities and projects.
Adopted at the 2023 Assembly, work is currently underway to configure its composition.
Offices responsible for the IOPD in a specific geographical area. Their functions are to represent IOPD, to look for new members and to forge alliances with regional organizations.
The IOPD currently has the following active Regional Office:
President IOPD 2024
Co-President IOPD 2025
Mayor of Valongo
José Manuel Ribeiro has been Mayor of Valongo since 2013. He holds a degree in International Relations, with an MBA in Business Management - specialisation in Marketing from the Catholic University of Porto. He has diversified professional experience in both the public and private sectors, both nationally and internationally. He is a member of the staff of the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP).
IOPD president in 2023
IOPD Co-President in 2024
Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
Eduardo da Costa Paes is a Brazilian politician who was the mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro from 2009 to 2012, re-elected for a second term from 2013 to 2016 and returning elected again in 2021. He is currently the 13th mayor of Rio de Janeiro. In November 2023 the city of Rio de Janeiro hosted the 22nd IOPD Conference.
Co-president of the OIDP for gender equality 2023-2025
2nd Deputy Mayor of Cocody
Nelly Patricia Awa Ouassenan is a company lawyer and a graduate of Abidjan Law School. She is Administrative and Legal Director of a life insurance company in Côte d'Ivoire. She has also been Deputy Mayor of Cocody in the Autonomous District of Abidjan since 2018. She was the organiser of the 20th OIDP conference, held in Abidjan in 2021, which focused on promoting participatory democracy to build sustainable cities.
Join the IOPD
