World Bank Egypt Country Director, Mahmood Ayub announced the winners of the first Egypt Development Marketplace innovation competition. The winners will split about 2.3 million Egyptian pounds ($385,906) in start-up funds to transform their ideas into real projects.
The funds are a contribution from the World Bank, the NGO Service Center, and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development. The recent competition finals were open to any organization and each proposal was judged on its intended impact on enhancing individuals skills, originality of idea, cost-effectiveness, and replicability.
Out of nearly 200 entries, 36 finalists from 15 governorates were chosen to present their proposals, on new ways to enhance skills, to a diverse jury panel consisting of prominent representatives of the development community. From these finalists, 13 contestants received the awards.
The ideas of winning proposals ranged from visual rehabilitation services, and providing to preschoolers health and nutritional support, to enhancing the skills of garbage collectors to become owners of solid waste recycling machines.
More than 250 representatives of the civil society, private sector, academia, government, foundations, and donors participated in yesterday’s event, which was organized in partnership with the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
