It defines itself as an "independent institution" that studies specifically "global issues that affect governance at different levels, from international to local".

[1] Legally, CIDOB is a private foundation endowed with a board of trustees made up of the main public institutions and universities of Barcelona and Catalonia.

Ribera was one of the promoters of the Catalan inter-diocesan movement Agermanament (Brothering), which was active in cooperation projects with countries in Africa and Latin America.

[citation needed] In the following years, CIDOB grew to become a research and documentation centre focused on international affairs and global issues, such as human development and migration.

Since the 1990s, the centre has strengthened its networking connections with European initiatives on issues concerning cooperation, international relations, and security, as well as its academic activities, which are aimed to generate ideas and specific political action.

[6] In March 2010, Javier Solana Madariaga, formerly the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, was appointed honorary chairman of CIDOB, a newly created post outside the organisational structure.

[7] In December 2012, Vaquer, newly appointed head of the new Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE), stepped down as director.

In June 2013, the board of trustees selected a new director, economics professor Jordi Bacaria i Colom, who is currently co-director of the Institute of European Integration Studies (IEIE) in Mexico and editor of the journal Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica.

[8] CIDOB's current president, since January 2017, is Antoni Segura i Mas, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Barcelona.

[11] The foundation's board is made up of both institutional and individual trustees, whose financial contributions represent most of the centre's annual budget.

It was built as the seat of the institution founded by Guillem dez Pou in 1370 to provide a foster home for orphans in the Diocese of Barcelona.