Centre For Sustainable Peace And Democratic Development

What Centre For Sustainable Peace And Democratic Development does

The Centre for Sustainable Peace and Democratic Development (SeeD) is a non-profit international research and policy organisation, registered in Belgium (2012) and headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus, that designs evidence-based peacebuilding methodologies and policy recommendations for international development actors, governments, and civil society. It operates across 35+ countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, working through direct partnerships with UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA), bilateral donors (USAID, FCDO, GIZ, SIDA), and national governments. Its flagship product is the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) Index — a participatory, context-adaptable assessment framework built on a Content Framework of 200+ indicators across five societal dimensions (Human Capability, Human Security, Community Cohesion, Institutional/Economic Development, Meaningful Civic Participation) and a Process Framework for local calibration. The methodology is supported by the SCORE Platform (app.scoreforpeace.org), a Learning Platform (learn.scoreforpeace.org), and a portfolio of specialised tools including DRIVE (resilience against violent extremism), the Social Tensions Monitoring Mechanism (STMM), the Electoral Stability Barometer, the Pusula digital civic participation platform, and the Ethiopian Peace Index.

Revenue is generated entirely through competitively awarded project grants and consultancy contracts from multilateral and bilateral development partners — no commercial product sales exist. Distribution is via direct field engagement with government ministries, UN Country Teams, and NGO consortia, supplemented by publications, policy briefs, the SCORE data platform, conferences, and webinars. Customer segments are primarily UN agencies, national governments, and bilateral development agencies, with secondary engagement of international NGOs, civil society organisations, and academic institutions. SeeD does not have conventional ownership, investors, or a board with equity — it is governed by a Board of Directors including Dr. Alexandros Lordos (President), Prof. Neophytos Loizides, and Irene Charitou, and is led operationally by Director General Dr. Bertrand Baldet (2026–present), succeeding Dr. Ilke Dagli Hustings (2022–2025).

Name

Centre For Sustainable Peace And Democratic Development

Legal name

Centre for Sustainable Peace and Democratic Development

Website

https://seedsofpeace.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SeeD is a non-profit research and policy organisation that designs the SCORE Index and related evidence-based methodologies to measure social cohesion, reconciliation, and resilience, serving UN agencies, governments, and bilateral donors across 35+ countries through project grants and technical assistance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Peacebuilding Research and Policy Advisory Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Peace, Security Sector Reform & Stabilization Programs (BPADABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Technical Cooperation, Capacity Building & Policy Advisory Programs (BPADABAO)

Keywords

• Evidence-based peacebuilding
• Social cohesion assessment
• Conflict transformation research
• Reconciliation index methodology
• Policy advisory services

Headquarters

HQ city

Nicosia

HQ country

Cyprus

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Project Grants and Consultancy Contracts: SeeD generates revenue primarily through competitively awarded project grants and consultancy contracts from international development organisations, UN agencies, bilateral development agencies (USAID, FCDO, SIDA, GIZ, etc.), and government partners. Revenue is project-based, tied to specific research and programme delivery scopes.
2. Technical Assistance and Training Services: Revenue is earned through providing technical assistance, research methodology training, and capacity building to national partners including governments, UN Country Teams, and civil society organisations. This includes calibration of SCORE and related tools, stakeholder engagement, and policy advisory services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SeeD designs and implements evidence-based peacebuilding strategies, social cohesion assessments, and policy recommendations for international development organisations, governments, and civil society. Its flagship offering is the SCORE (Social Cohesion and Reconciliation) Index, complemented by specialized tools (DRIVE, STMM, Electoral Stability Barometer), technical assistance, capacity building, and training services. All work is commissioned through project grants and consultancy contracts rather than commercial product sales.

Product overview

SeeD offers a unified product architecture anchored by the SCORE (Social Cohesion and Reconciliation) Index, their flagship assessment tool that measures social cohesion and reconciliation through participatory research and advanced statistical analysis. The SCORE ecosystem includes the SCORE Platform (app.scoreforpeace.org) for data exploration, the SCORE Content/Process Frameworks and Analysis Toolkit for methodology, and specialized products like DRIVE for violent extremism resilience, the Electoral Stability Barometer for early warning, and the Social Tensions Monitoring Mechanism. Supporting platforms include the Learning Platform (learn.scoreforpeace.org) and the Pusula civic participation digital tool. Additional products include the Ethiopian Peace Index, Multi-Family Healing Spaces framework, and five thematic frameworks (Social Cohesion & Reconciliation, Youth Inclusion, Gender Empowerment & Participation, Urban Cohesion, Good Governance & Anti-corruption). All offerings are grounded in SeeD's evidence-based peacebuilding methodology combining participatory research with quantitative analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SCORE (Social Cohesion and Reconciliation) Index SeeD's flagship assessment tool designed to measure social cohesion and reconciliation in multi-ethnic societies worldwide. Uses participatory research techniques and advanced analytical instruments to identify drivers of cohesion, resilience, and peaceful social change. Commissioned by governments and UN agencies.
• DRIVE (Development & Resilience Index Against Violent Extremism) An index assessing and strengthening the capacity of communities to resist the influence of violent extremist organizations, particularly in regions facing rising security threats. Provides detailed insights into social stressors and resilience factors shaping vulnerability to extremism.
• Electoral Stability Barometer An early warning system focusing on immediate behavioral and contextual indicators of potential electoral violence, examining high-risk attitudes, weaponized civic mobilization, and localized tensions across electoral cycles.
• Social Tensions Monitoring Mechanism (STMM) A system designed to support early warning, analysis, and response to emerging social tensions by identifying anti-systemic and contentious potential and defining entry points for addressing grievances before escalation.
• Pusula / Πούσουλας Digital Civic Participation Platform A digital civic participation platform connecting people with each other and public decision makers. Empowers people to interact, share ideas and decide jointly on societal problems at neighborhood, village, city, or island-wide level in Cyprus.
• Ethiopian Peace Index (EPI) A pilot peace index for Ethiopia using a participatory quantitative methodology to measure factors influencing peace including economic, social, psychological, attitudinal, behavioral, and environmental dimensions.
• DRIVE Sahel A tool developed to understand how communities cope with violent extremism threats, constructing an index of locally perceived risk and its observed effects on social cohesion for West African regions.
• Multi-Family Healing Spaces (MFHS) A family- and community-centered approach exploring how family systems, psychosocial wellbeing, community attitudes, and educational aspirations interact to affect participation and success in formal education. Used in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 indicators across five dimensions of societal functioning within the SCORE Content Framework, continuously expanded through calibrations in diverse national contexts
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD's longest-standing and most extensive partnership. UNDP commissioned the development of the SCORE Index (2012) and has partnered with SeeD across Cyprus, Iraq, Moldova, Liberia, and numerous other countries. UNDP-ACT and UNDP Cyprus were founding partners in the development of SCORE.
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on SCORE Adolescent projects in Ukraine and youth-related programming in Moldova and other countries. UNICEF used SeeD's evidence to develop materials for women's civic engagement (Moldova) and informed Ukraine's Ministry of Education policies on psychosocial support and life skills.
• UN WomencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with UNDP and SeeD for the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Assessment for Fiji (Oceania, 2024). UN Women used SeeD data to inform gender-related policy development in multiple countries.
• United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD partnered with UN Women in Fiji for the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Assessment (2024) and in Ukraine for adolescent gender research. UN Women also used SeeD data for women's civic and political engagement materials in Moldova.
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNFPA joined the UN Country Team supporting SCORE Moldova alongside UNDP, UNICEF, and UN Women.
• InterpeacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD's longest-standing operational partner. Interpeace provided project management guidance for the Cyprus 2015 project and has partnered with SeeD on SCORE-related work in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Timor-Leste. Interpeace's FAR methodology was co-designed with SeeD's evidence-based methods.
• Search for Common GroundmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD has partnered with Search for Common Ground since 2016 on education access research in conflict-affected regions of Mali (Mopti, Gao, Timbuktu) and Niger (Diffa region), combining SCORE methodology with Search's conflict scan method.
• Berghof FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Security Dialogue Initiative (SDI) in Cyprus, alongside Interpeace. Funded by U.S. Department of State, Federal Foreign Office of Germany, and Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• ChemonicsmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerImplements USAID-funded Democratic Governance East Activity (DG-East) and Ukraine Confidence-Building Initiative (UCBI) with which SeeD works on SCORE for Eastern Ukraine and SCORE National. Also managing partner of Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU) with FCDO UK funding, with SeeD as consortium partner.
• The Cyprus InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD conducted the first institutional SCORE Assessment with the Cyprus Institute's Equal Opportunities Committee, measuring social cohesion within the institute's staff and student community.
• Equal Access InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerImplementing partner for the Resilience for Peace (R4P) programme, a five-year USAID-funded initiative in Côte d'Ivoire. SeeD develops the DRIVE index and provides analysis and reporting support for community resilience against violent extremism.
• Indigo Ivory CoastmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with SeeD and Interpeace on multiple SCORE-based research projects in Côte d'Ivoire, including analysis of determinants of political violence and the DRIVE programme.
• ACTEDmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Resilience in Azov Sea Area (RASA) project in Ukraine alongside IMPACT, funded by the EU (July 2020).
• IMPACT InitiativesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with SeeD and ACTED on the RASA project in Ukraine's Azov Sea oblasts.
• Cuso InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD supported Cuso International's Multi-Family Healing Spaces project in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz region, contributing to educational access for economically disadvantaged schoolgirls.
• Future Worlds CentremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint implementer of the Civic Action Now – Cyprus (CAN-Cy) project alongside SeeD, under the Active Citizens Fund Cyprus programme (EEA and Norway Grants).
• Pro-Public (Nepal)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the consortium (with SeeD, Forum for the Protection of Public Interest, and GIZ) that supported Nepal's national reconciliation policy design using SCORE methodology (2014-2016).
• World Bank (eMBeD)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld Bank's Mind, Behavior, and Development unit (eMBeD) partnered with SeeD to develop the Pusula digital civic engagement platform in Cyprus, through a combination of diagnostics, workshops, and behavioural interventions.
• Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre (CPDC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeeD served as Methodological Lead on the external impact assessment of the EU Scholarship Programme for Cypriot Youth at UWC, with CPDC as Operational Lead (2025). Also partnered in the CAN-Cy civic participation project.
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUsed SeeD's Moldova study results to develop a policy paper on the impact of human rights on social cohesion in the country.
• Catholic Relief Service (CRS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in Bangladesh where SeeD contributed an assessment toolkit and programme guide based on SCORE and CRS's framework for Catholic Relief Services' programming.
• United Nations Department of Peace Operations (DPO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated the SeeD project studying the link between climate change and armed group recruitment patterns with a DDR perspective, focused on the Tillaberi region in Niger (pilot).

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• International Crisis Group: Major conflict-analysis think tank producing country briefings and the CrisisWatch early-warning product. Highly comparable to SeeD's STMM and Electoral Stability Barometer offerings — same clients (UN, foreign ministries), same product category (context analysis and early warning), though Crisis Group's outputs are qualitative and SeeD's are quantitative.
• Interpeace: SeeD's longest-standing operational partner and the closest peer — both organizations develop participatory, evidence-based peacebuilding methodologies (Interpeace's FAR framework alongside SeeD's SCORE) and co-deliver programmes in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, and Timor-Leste. Comparability is direct: same donors, same client base, same methodology-driven service model.
• Search for Common Ground: Largest dedicated international peacebuilding NGO; SeeD has been an active partner since 2016 on education access research in Mali and Niger, combining SCORE methodology with Search's conflict scan approach. Same target clients (UN agencies, USAID, FCDO), same conflict-affected geographies, complementary methodological toolkits.
• Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP): Producer of the Global Peace Index and Positive Peace Index; the most direct methodological peer to SeeD in building composite, indicator-based indices measuring peace and social resilience. Both serve multilateral and government clients seeking cross-country comparability, though IEP is broader and commercial-leaning while SeeD embeds its index in participatory country programmes.
• Fund for Peace: Producer of the Fragile States Index, the longest-running cross-country fragility dataset. Direct methodological peer to SeeD's SCORE — both publish annually updated composite indices used by USAID, the World Bank, and UN agencies to inform fragile-state programming and country allocations.
• Berghof Foundation: German peacebuilding think-and-do tank; co-partner with SeeD in the Security Dialogue Initiative in Cyprus alongside Interpeace. Both organizations operate evidence-based conflict transformation programmes and serve the same set of bilateral donors (Germany's AA, FCDO, USAID) with comparable theory-of-change methodologies.
• Conciliation Resources: UK-based peacebuilding NGO working on peace processes in the Caucasus, West Africa, the Pacific, and Latin America. Comparable to SeeD in size, methodology focus (participatory conflict analysis), and donor base (FCDO, EU); a direct competitor for the same peacebuilding programme grants in overlapping geographies.

Others

• World Bank eMBeD (Mind, Behavior, and Development): Internal World Bank unit that partnered with SeeD to develop the Pusula digital civic participation platform in Cyprus. Adjacent rather than competitive — eMBeD commissions research and behavioural interventions from organizations like SeeD, but operates at a fundamentally larger scale and with very different funding mechanics (multilateral lending vs. bilateral grants).

Broad incumbents

• International IDEA: Intergovernmental organization producing the Global State of Democracy indices and supporting electoral and constitutional processes globally. Directly comparable to SeeD's Electoral Stability Barometer and governance/anti-corruption framework, and serves overlapping UN and bilateral donor clients, though IDEA operates at a much larger scale with a broader democratic governance mandate.
• Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO): Leading academic peace and conflict research institute; a broad incumbent in the same evidence-based peacebuilding category. PRIO produces the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset and similar cross-country indicators that compete for the same donor research budgets, though PRIO is academically anchored whereas SeeD is operationally embedded in country programmes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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