October 2, 2006 - Under its world-wide Development Marketplace (DM) program, the World Bank is looking to award at least US$4 million for innovative, local projects that provide unique solutions to improving Health, Nutrition and Population for the Poor. The Development Marketplace 2006-2007 program reflects the World Bank’s determination to support local ideas that improve the lives of poor people worldwide. Proposals should be submitted in English before November 17, 2006.
Whether it’s conserving biodiversity through wood sale auctions in Latvia, recycling discarded plastic into usable objects in Burkina Faso, developing fly-fishing eco-tourism in Mongolia, or using discarded wool as insulation material in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the key word behind the competition is innovation. The Development Marketplace 2006-2007, is open to anyone - civil society groups, social entrepreneurs, youth organizations, private foundations, academia, and private sector corporations -- with a brilliant but unusual idea that may not get funded through traditional venues. The maximum award will be US$200,000 per proposal.
Proposals for this year should target:
- Innovative mechanisms to reach vulnerable groups;
- Public-private partnerships to improve delivery of health goods and services;
- Innovative inter-sectoral linkages, such as improving water supply, sanitation services, indoor air pollution, roads, etc., for illness/disease/injury prevention;
- Cost-effective approaches/methods/technologies to improve local capacity to gather, analyze and apply health, nutrition and population data.
Finalists will be announced on February 8, 2007. Finalists will present their ideas at the Global Development Marketplace & Knowledge Exchange event in Washington in May 2007, where winners will be selected by an independent jury comprised of leading representatives of academia, civil society, foundations, government, donors and the World Bank.
Arshad Sayed, Country Manager and Resident Representative of the World Bank in Mongolia said “Development Marketplace is a great opportunity to test innovative solutions that have a potential to improve the well-being of Mongolian people and I hope many Mongolian organizations will participate this year”.
Mongolia already has a record of success at the Development Marketplace -- two projects were awarded grants for testing their ideas that deal with promoting Fly Fishing for Biodiversity Conservation and preventing Under-Age Prostitutions by Skill Building.
The Development Marketplace started in 1998 as an internal Bank competition to fund innovative ideas that were not picked up through the usual funding system. It has evolved into a global event that has awarded some US$40 million for more than 1,100 projects over the last seven years.
