One hundred and four project teams from around the world are invited to World Bank headquarters May 22-23 to display their projects and vie for grant funding in the final round of the 2007 Global Development Marketplace competition. This year’s DM, which paired up with the World Bank Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) units to focus on improving health, nutrition and population services for the poor, attracted a record high of nearly 2,900 applicants. "The World Bank's work in health, nutrition and population aims at bolstering partner country efforts to improve health conditions for the poor and the vulnerable and to prevent them from becoming impoverished or made destitute as a result of illness,” said Cristian Baeza, acting director for HNP. “The Development Marketplace provides us with a wonderful opportunity to tap into an enormous pool of innovative local solutions to help achieve these results on the ground and improve people's lives." The 104 finalists were narrowed down through two rounds of assessment that brought together roughly 250 health and development experts from inside and outside the Bank. Some 224 assessors volunteered in the first round in early January, and 56 returned to participate in the second round a month later, along with nine newcomers.  | | Ellen Bomasang-Son of Winrock voices the finer points of a project proposal during a DM assessment meeting. To her left are assessors Debra Brody and Koffi Ekouevi of the World Bank. |
“One minute we were talking about transporting refrigerated medicines on the backs of camels in Africa, and the next minute we were skipping around to Bolivia and China to look at very different health problems that all use creativity in their proposed solutions,” said Emanuele Capobianco, a World Bank health specialist who volunteered as an assessor in both rounds. “That exposure to innovative instruments can be very valuable,” he added. “And also the discussion -- the exchange of opinions I found very enriching although not always easy.” Apurva Patel from the Red Cross also enjoyed being a DM assessor. He was pleased that two of the projects he saw in the first round made it to the second, and then the finals. “Some were so innovative,” said Patel. “And I like that about the DM … you are allowed to get passionate about an idea.” The majority of finalists – 34 percent – address sub-Saharan Africa. Latin America and the Caribbean and Southeast Asia will each be represented with about 20 percent of projects. Some 15 percent hail from East Asia and the Pacific, 6 percent from Europe and Central Asia and 4 percent from the Middle East and North Africa region. The most proposals per country are from India, Kenya, Philippines, Nepal and South Africa. The majority of proposals were submitted by NGOs, but many have partnerships with foundations, academia, private enterprises, government and development agencies. Click here for a breakdown of the DM2007 finalists by region, sector, sub-theme and other details. Click here for more information on the 2007 competition. |
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