Today the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) announced the winners of the sixth Superheroes of Development Contest, which honors lessons learned and creative and innovative solutions in development projects financed by the IDB Group in Latin America and the Caribbean. Superheroes of Development is an initiative of BIDAcademy, the IDB Group's knowledge and learning platform.

Juliano Seabra, Manager of the Knowledge, Innovation and Communication Sector, explained that "the IDB Group is committed to generating and sharing knowledge as a way to improve lives in the region. The contest’s winners set great examples for how to implement projects while adapting to an ever-changing reality, and for how to create knowledge that can be replicated in other areas and by other teams."

The 2023 contest received 141 entries from 25 countries in the region, almost twice as many as in 2022. This year’s winners, which were announced during the IDB Group's Knowledge Week, are:

Social Safety Net for Vulnerable People (Haiti). Executing agency: the Haitian government’s Social and Economic Assistance Fund. 
This initiative was designed to provide cash and in-kind transfers to the most vulnerable groups, like young people and pregnant or breastfeeding women. Haiti has high levels of vulnerability, and almost half of the population (4.9 million people) suffers from hunger. The country is also the third most exposed to extreme weather events in the world.

One challenge the project implementers faced was low levels of banking penetration for transfers. To overcome this obstacle, they transferred cash to the population via cell phone operators. The project reached at least 3 million people, thanks to the large-scale partnership between the Haitian Social and Economic Assistance Fund, NGOs and UN agencies. It covered areas of the country that had not been reached before.

The IDB Group provided support for building a second plant and developing a sustainable scrap metal supply chain. It also bolstered the "Recyclers' Club," which is designed to support this group of workers through financial benefits and training. The project has increased scrap production from 193,000 tons per year to 215,000 tons per year. The number of people working in scrap metal collection has risen from 7,000 to 9,200 since the project started.

Transforming Policing Culture amid Multiple Crises (Peru). Executing agency: Peru Seguro 2025. In 2019, Peru approved the project entitled Improving Crime Prevention and Response Services in Neighborhoods Vulnerable to Crime and Violence. One of its objectives was to build the capacities of the police, under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to prevent urban crime and increase the effectiveness of intelligence services at 107 police stations in areas with higher crime rates.

Among other actions, this initiative sought to involve rank-and-file police officers and middle management in the project's administrative processes, in order to ensure the continuity of various contracts. This protected the initiative’s progress from changes or appointments at the upper management level. In addition, rank-and-file officers and middle management enhanced the technical implementation of the project with their first-hand knowledge of the reality on the ground.

As in previous years, this year the IDB Group plans to share these stories and lessons throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to help improve how existing projects are being implemented and how new projects are prepared. The winners will serve as an example and inspiration for other future projects.

About the IDB Group
The IDB Group is the leading source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean. It helps improve lives by providing financial solutions and development expertise to public- and private-sector clients. The Group comprises the IDB, which has partnered with governments for over 60 years; IDB Invest, which serves the private sector; and IDB Lab, which tests innovative ways to enable more inclusive growth. Take our virtual tour.

About BIDAcademy
The BIDAcademy platform centralizes the IDB Group's knowledge and learning resources to tackle the region's development challenges.
https://academiabid.iadb.org/