The Inter-American Development Bank announced today the selection of 12 new projects for $10 million in financing under its Regional Public Goods Program. The initiative was created in 2004 to promote regional collective action on high-impact issues for economic growth and poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The new financing approved by the IDB Board of Executive Directors will be provided to consortia from the 26 borrowing member countries of the IDB for projects in the following sectors: citizen security and the fight against human trafficking, science and technology, regional policy coordination in support of small and medium enterprises, rural development, health, education, environment and indigenous peoples. These projects will be added to the 19 previously approved projects currently in execution.
“This innovative program for technical assistance for development is demand-driven, with special emphasis on taking advantage of the collective action of the countries of the region to address problems that would otherwise not be easy to resolve by a country on its own,” said Laura Bocalandro, program chief. “Since the program is an instrument for south-south cooperation, it promotes the replication of good ideas and best practices.”
“In addition to innovation, the program places special emphasis on regional institutional coordination and the development of strategic partnerships with the private sector, key civil society organizations and specialized international entities,” she added.
Some examples of IDB strategic partnerships in place include a program with Microsoft which supports the consolidation of the CLARA Network and others with the Pan-American Health Organization, which is participating as a donor and technical partner in the creation of the Central American Food Fortification Regional System and the Regional Program for control of Chagas Disease in Latin America.
“The IDB continues to be on the cutting edge by putting the theoretical concepts of transnational public goods into practice and disseminating and implementing good ideas,” pointed out Laura Bocalandro.
Information and training sessions about the program have been held in more than 11 countries in the region. Recently, seminars attracted the participation of over 100 representatives of government agencies, non governmental organizations, academia and international organizations in workshops in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. This instrument has proven its potential to leverage regional solutions and promote individual and collective development in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The IDB will launch its next call for proposals on July 23. The deadline for receipts of proposals is October 19, 2007. More information can be found on the Regional Public Goods website (http://www.iadb.org/int/bpr), which includes an online question-and-answer page where interested parties can obtain guidance from specialists on the eligibility criteria for the competition. Strategic partners can also find information about the regional public goods debate and details on IDB- financed projects.
Proposals approved for 2007 Financing
Proposal
Beneficiary Countries
Regional Information System for Citizen Security
Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Peru and Venezuela
Creation of a Regional Network to Fight the Trafficking of Children and Adolescents for Sexual Exploitation in the Mercosur Region
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay
Regional Engineering Accreditation System for the Greater Caribbean Region
Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Panama
MERCOSUR Program to Eradicate the Cattle Screwworm
Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay
Regional System for Public Policy Design for Micro and Small Enterprises
Argentina, Brazil and Chile
Development of a Caribbean Broadband Network (c@ribNET)
Bahamas, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
Recovery, Promotion and Showcasing of the Aymara Natural and Cultural Heritage
Bolivia, Chile and Peru
Central American Protocol for Drug Procurement and Quality Control
Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama
Building Capacities to Improve Competitiveness in the Caribbean Agricultural Sector
Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago
Monitoring and Evaluation of the Biodiversity Program for Central America (PROMEBIO)
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama
Regional Consortium for the Development of a Regional Policy and Implementation Plan for Chronic Disease and Disability
Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago
Environmental Health Epidemiologic Surveillance System for the Amazon
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela