Kathleen Addy

Civic Education in Ghana: Deepening Democracy Through Active Citizenship

Ms. Kathleen Addy is the chair of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in Ghana, in which capacity she pioneers the development of new programs to ignite citizen interest in democracy, history, and civics. A communications professional with over 20 years’ experience in the development and nonprofit sector, she was previously communications coordinator for Afrobarometer from 2009 to 2013 and a research officer at the Center for Policy Analysis from 2005 to 2009. In addition to her professional experiences, Ms. Addy is also a highly regarded civic activist, with a particular interest in women’s empowerment and good governance. She has participated in civil society movements that put pressure on the government to be more accountable to citizens, such as Citizen Ghana Movement and Clean Ghana Now. In 2015, she was a plaintiff in a successful public interest lawsuit which resulted in a landmark judgment protecting ordinary citizens’ right to access information from government. During her fellowship, she is conducting a comprehensive review of the state of civic education in Ghana and developing recommendations aimed at harnessing civic education’s potential as catalyst for participatory citizenship.