DM2003 Competition Guidelines

Objectives   Theme  Awards  Eligibility Criteria   Assessment Criteria   Timeline   

Objectives

The objective of Development Marketplace 2003 (DM2003) is to identify and fund the most innovative ideas in development from around the world. The Marketplace also brings together a variety of actors in development, staff from the World Bank and other donor organizations, civil society groups, social entrepreneurs, private foundations, academia, and private sector corporations, to promote knowledge sharing and help form networks. The goal of the Marketplace is to expose and engage the development community in productive and inventive partnerships that will have a potentially powerful impact in poverty reduction and economic development.

Theme

The theme for DM2003 is Making Services Work for Poor People. This theme underpins a key World Bank Group priority in the fight against poverty. Basic services in health, education, water and sanitation, roads and other infrastructure, transportation,conservation and ecosystems, social protection, and other services have often failed to reach the world’s poor. Limited access to financial services, information and communication technology, and knowledge further marginalize poor people and keep them from participating in and benefiting from mainstream economic life. Improving both the quality and reach of services to the poor is essential to any effort to alleviate poverty and encourage growth in the developing world. This topic reflects the World Bank’s upcoming World Development Report 2004 theme of the same name, and is an effort to expand on the analysis by funding innovative ideas that test and advance the practice of providing effective services in developing countries.

Awards

The World Bank Group will provide roughly US$4 million in Development Marketplace Awards to the winners selected by an international jury.  A new award called Market-Based Incentives to Strengthen Biodiversity Conservation was recently added to the DM awards categories. Additional award categories may be announced at the event, or in the run-up to the event.

NEW! HIV/AIDS AWARDS

Development Marketplace, UNAIDS, and the World Bank's Global HIV/AIDS Program announce the creation of a US$400,000 award pool to fund DM 2003 projects that address HIV/AIDS.  This partnership significantly expands the amount of funding available for HIV/AIDS-oriented projects in DM 2003.  In addition, this partnership represents a significant commitment from a group outside the World Bank to augment the award pool in order to find and fund innovative HIV/AIDS-oriented projects.  The awardees will be selected by the final jury on December 3-4, 2003, and only projects that are already among the 186 previously announced finalists will qualify for these funds.  In the past, DM has successfully funded three HIV/AIDS oriented projects that have delivered strong results on the ground: Roundabout HIV/AIDS in South Africa, ACT Mining in South Africa, and Combating HIV/AIDS in Nepal: An Economic and Literacy Approach in Nepal.  Based on this success, DM expects to be able to fund an additional 3 - 5 projects that address the pandemic in the 2003 Global Competition.  For more details on the partnership and funding commitment, please click here.(PRESS RELEASE)

Eligibility Criteria

DM2003 is open to all, including Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), multilateral and bilateral development agencies (including the World Bank), private foundations, universities and schools, private sector groups, individuals, and local and municipal governments. Proposals will be screened to ensure that they conform to the following criteria:

• Theme: Proposals must reflect the theme of Making Services Work for Poor People in any of the following areas:
  

  
  
  • Health
  • Education
  • Water and sanitation
  • Infrastructure (roads and transportation)
  • Energy
  • Financial services, including microfinance
  • Small business and microenterprise support
  • Information and communication technology
  • Social protection
  • Conservation and ecosystem services

  ...or any project that improves delivery of services to poor people. In addition to the specifically enumerated categories, DM will consider ideas from a range of areas not explicitly listed here, e.g., agriculture/rural development services, urban housing services, social protection, or post-conflict and rebuilding services. DM is looking for all innovative ideas that improve a broad range of services delivered to improve the lives of poor people.

• Conservation and ecosystem services: To qualify for the “Market-Based Incentives to Strengthen Biodiversity Conservation” award category, proposals must specifically focus on self-sustaining solutions to biodiversity conservation and creating incentives for local community engagement in conservation and reaping its benefits. Mechanisms that provide incentives for local communities to engage in conservation can take the form of commercial or incentive-oriented ventures, or efforts to establish markets to promote conservation activities.  The objective of this award is to find innovative ideas that will strengthen the conservation of biological diversity, while building sustainable livelihoods and reducing poverty.
  
  
• Partnerships: Proposals must be submitted in partnership with at least one other organization. For example, an NGO may partner with another NGO, multilateral/ bilateral development agency (UNDP, USAID, SIDA, etc.), foundation, university, private sector group, or government. Municipal and local government agencies are eligible to apply in partnership with at least one of the other organizations mentioned above. Note: Private businesses and individuals must include a public purpose partner such as NGOs/CSOs, multilateral/ bilateral development agency, foundation, university/school, or government. 

• Implementation time frame: Proposed activities must be completed within 12 months of receiving initial disbursement from Development Marketplace.

• Results: The output or results outlined in proposals should be measurable and demonstrate a direct impact on improving service delivery to the poor in developing countries. Research, publications, or conferences/forums with no directly verifiable results will not be eligible.
  
• Maximum Award size: The maximum award size in DM2003 will be US$250,000. Awards to winners vary in size according to the needs outlined in their proposals. In past years, typical awards were in the order of US$50,000 to US$100,000. 
  
• Past winners: Award winners in past Development Marketplace Competitions and Country Innovation Days are eligible to submit a proposal that is different from the project or idea for which they have previously received an award. They may not submit the same idea or project.
  
• Ongoing Country Innovation Days: If you have submitted proposals to the following 2003 Country Innovation Days: Belarus-Ukraine-Moldova, Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan), Guatemala, Peru, and Vietnam, you may not be eligible to participate in the Global Competition. Please contact the Development Marketplace team for more information at dminfo@worldbank.org.

Assessment Criteria

In addressing the theme of DM2003, proposals should seek to answer the following questions:

• What is/are the problem(s)/issue(s) you are addressing?
• What is your idea, and how does it address the problem(s)/issue(s) described above in terms of improving services to the poor?
• How will you implement your idea? Describe the activities/steps your project will undertake to realize its objective(s).
• How is your idea innovative or different from existing approaches that are addressing the problem(s)/issue(s) described in question one?
• What are the expected outcomes/results of your project? Whom will they benefit? How are they measurable?
• How will your project be sustainable beyond the phase funded by Development Marketplace (DM)? What characteristics of your project would you highlight to suggest that it is sustainable?
• What is the possibility of implementing your idea/project elsewhere (in a different country/region)?

  Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Focus
• Innovation
• Realism and Results
• Sustainability
• Replicability

How to Apply

Please note that all proposals must be submitted through the Development Marketplace website. For instructions and detailed information on how to apply, click here  . If you are unable to access the internet, please contact the DM team by fax at (202) 522-2042. If you are unable to access our website, please send an e-mail to: dminfo@worldbank.org.  The Development Marketplace Team must receive your proposal by 6 p.m. (Washington local time or 23:00 GMT) on May 2nd 2003. 

DM2003 Timeline and Key Steps

The overall process and timeline of DM2003 is as follows

March 3-May 2, 2003: Call for proposals
The announcement of DM2003 is kicked off with a "Call for Proposals." Incoming proposals should follow the template provided. All proposals for DM2003 should be submitted through our website.

May 5-July 24, 2003: Review of proposals
Incoming proposals that meet the DM’s eligibility criteria will be reviewed by World Bank staff and external assessors. Proposals will be assessed against the assessment criteria mentioned above. The overarching principles guiding the assessment process are fairness, diversity of views, and transparency.

July 24, 2003: Announce finalists
Assessors will select roughly 200 finalists. The names of these finalists will be announced on the DM website by July 24th and the DM team will contact them to invite them to submit a longer proposal (Full Proposal) and attend the Marketplace in Washington DC.

July 25-September 12, 2003: Full  proposals
All finalists will be asked to submit a more detailed proposal and budget (Full Proposal) by September 12th.

September 15 - December 1, 2003: Technical and Country Office Review
All Full Proposals will be reviewed by subject or sector experts as well as by key staff in local World Bank country offices as part of DM’s due diligence process.

December 3-4, 2003
At the Marketplace, an independent jury comprised of World Bank staff and leading individuals in development outside the Bank (academia, civil society, foundations, government, other donor institutions, and the private sector) will evaluate each proposal and select about 40-50 winners.

To take advantage of the presence of a variety of actors in development in one place, DM convenes a Knowledge Exchange to expose and engage the development community in productive and inventive partnerships and networks. Here, finalists have the opportunity to meet with other representatives of the development community and exchange ideas and informally network with their peers.