The United States have awarded the Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, with the 2015 “Martin Luther King Jr Award for Peace and Social Justice”.

The civil society leader was recognized for his proven commitment and activism in improving Ghana’s democratic experiment.

The Award was created in 2007 to honor Dr. King’s legacy of community building and social progress by recognizing Ghanaian citizens whose engagement has shown sustainable results in building a culture of social justice, human rights and peace in the communities in which they live.

IDEG which was established in  2000 as an independent, not-for-profit policy research and advocacy organization has grown to become a notable voice of reason in public discourse on governance issues.

Perhaps most notably, the CSO’s role became more pronounced during a contentious Supreme Court drama, Election Petition, to determine who won the 2102 Presidential elections.

IDEG organised the National Peace Summit in July 2013 to get political stakeholders to pledge the peace when the country faced a controversial verdict.

Dr. Aketwey’s leadership at IDEG has also seen the pro-good governance think-tank work with the National Peace Council among other governance, conflict-resolution organisations.