Cures by camel

Washington – One hundred and four project teams from around the world are at World Bank headquarters to display their projects and vie for US$4 million in grant funding in the final round of the 2007 Global Development Marketplace competition. The contest fosters innovation in development projects by having stakeholders compete for funding and selecting the best from among them.

This year's DM paired up with the World Bank Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) unit to focus on improving health, nutrition and population services for the poor. It 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 totap into an enormous pool of innovative local solutions to help achieve these results on the ground and improve people's lives."

Largest contingent from Africa

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. The issues addressed by the proposals were as varied thematically as they were geographically.

“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.”

The largest number of finalists – 34% – target development challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. Latin America and the Caribbean and Southeast Asia will each be the focus of about 20% of the projects. Some 15% hail from East Asia and the Pacific, 6% from Europe and Central Asia and 4% from the Middle East and North Africa region.

The countries with the highest number of proposals will be 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.