The Centre for Cooperative Studies for Local Development, CECODEL, is a non-profit NGO for development, formed in Nador at the beginning of 1998 by a group of volunteers who were professionals from varied backgrounds and who had gained substantial experience in the management of associations. The Centre was formed with the aim of contributing to the overall sustainable development of the Rif region (on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast).

Our work is conducted in a spirit of teamwork and solidarity. Our initiatives are guided by a collectively defined ethic. We are organised according to our slogan: Internal democracy and external transparency. As for our conception of development, our initiatives are not an end in themselves, but a means of introducing a new culture: that of cooperation, or ‘twiza’. Our projects, our messages. 

We are an association that is governed by current Moroccan law. 

Teams of young people and volunteers are working permanently with the members of the Administrative Council to follow up the entire course of our projects, from the negotiation of an idea to the completion of a project, via a number of stages including the identification, development, consultation, implementation and evaluation of a project. 

Alongside the Administrative Council, which is responsible for the guidance of Centre, the work itself is conducted by four branches: 

- Branch for Rural Development 

- Branch for the Promotion of Cooperative Work and Public Awareness 

- Branch for Community Support 

- Open University 

The coordination of the various structures operates according to the Centre’s organisational chart. 

CECODEL relies on the support of around a hundred collaborative members and honorary members.