The Horn Center for Democracy (HCD) is pleased to announce that on September 5, 2025, it received an Equivalency Determination Certificate from NGOsource, recognizing HCD as equivalent to a Certified Public Charity. This certification confirms HCD’s status as a public charity for the purposes of international grantmaking.

The Equivalency Determination affirms that HCD meets internationally recognized standards of governance, transparency, accountability, and charitable purpose. This certification enables international partners and donors to support HCD with confidence, recognizing that its institutional systems and financial management align with best practices for civil society organizations (CSOs).

This milestone reflects HCD’s continued commitment to strong institutional governance and its mission to promote democratic principles and practices, including accountability, human rights, civic participation, peace, and security in the Horn of Africa (HoA) region. The determination further strengthens HCD’s ability to engage with regional and global partners and to expand its programmatic interventions in support of democratization and transitional processes.

HCD views this achievement as a significant step in reinforcing trust with its partners, donors, and the communities it serves, and as a strong foundation for implementing its multi-year organizational strategy aimed at entrenching a culture of democracy in the region.