Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento (APDES)

Founded in 2004, APDES - Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento – is a non-profit NGDO (Non-governmental Development Organisation) that promotes the integrated development.

APDES main goal is to intervene with vulnerable communities and people, in order to improve their access to healthcare services, employment and education, working for the empowerment of institutions and individuals, as well as for the reinforcement of social cohesion. The organisational profile of APDES comprehends four lines of intervention that guide the developed projects: health, harm reduction and human rights; health education; social cohesion and employment; cooperation and development.

All the tasks carried out follow successfully delineated work principles, such as research, participative methodologies, outreach intervention, advocacy, assessment and interdisciplinary approach.

Headquartered in Vila Nova de Gaia, APDES develops several activities in this municipality and cities like Porto, Barcelos, Guarda, Viseu, Setúbal and Lisbon. Since 2008, APDES has internationalised its scope of action and organised several initiatives in European countries, Cape Verde and Angola – a territory where the process of institutional formalisation of the Agency is currently being carried out, alongside intervention and training projects.

The affiliation of APDES with other organisations is quite extensive; APDES is the founding and constituent member of several national and international networks in the ambit of harm reduction associated with psychoactive drugs use, sex work, access to employment and human rights.


In 2011, after being recognised as a Non-governmental Development Organisation (NGDO) by the Camões I.P., APDES started to benefit from the status of public utility.

Contactp âra Curricultm Global : Joana Canedo <joana.canedo@apdes.pt>

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An organization RIPESS & SDGs