Nominations for the prestigious award represented 26 Latin American and Caribbean countries
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today that three institutions from Haiti, Brazil and Ecuador won the Juscelino Kubitschek Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in two categories: “Economics and Finance” and “Social, Cultural, and Scientific.” The award is named after the well-known Brazilian President (1956–1961), who was instrumental in the creation of the IDB, the world’s first regional development bank.
The Selection Committee announced the winners: Instituto Promundo from Brazil and Fondo Ecuatoriano Populorum Progressio (FEPP) from Ecuador shared the prize in the “Social, Cultural, and Scientific” category. Fonkoze from Haiti won in the “Economics and Finance” category. In addition to the awards, the Selection Committee granted honorable mentions to three organizations in recognition of their excellent work: Acción Emprendedora from Chile, Fundación PROFIN from Bolivia and Young Marine Explorers from The Bahamas.
The fourth edition of the award, presented every two years, focused on innovation. It received nearly 400 nominations, representing organizations from 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. For each category there is a US$100,000 prize, which can be divided equally among winners, in case there is more than one per category. The awards ceremony will be held in April in The Bahamas, during the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IDB.
The Selection Committee, chaired by IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno met in Washington, DC on November 9–10. Former Ibero-American Secretary-General Enrique V. Iglesias served as its Secretary. The Committee members included: former President of Ecuador, Osvaldo Hurtado; former Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson; the Governor of the Bank of Spain, Luis Maria Linde; United Nations diplomat, Paulo Pinheiro; the Chief Executive of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Hiroshi Watanabe; former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, Billie Miller; the Coordinator of the Contemporary Amazonia Program (AmazonIEA), Maritta Koch-Weser; Nicaraguan writer, Gioconda Belli; and Bernardo Toro, Advisor to the Avina Foundation.
About the winners
SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC CATEGORY
Instituto Promundo – Brazil
Instituto Promundo’s main objective is to promote gender equality and violence prevention by creating innovative programs focused on various age groups, including children, youth and adults, particularly women. It has been in existence for 18 years and currently operates in nine countries in the region including Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Nicaragua.
In Brazil Promundo has helped 104,000 people, including 2,100 teachers and 4,000 students alone in the “Promovendo a Igualdade de Gênero nas Escolas Program” (PEGE). Internationally it counts 10,000 education and health professionals from 22 countries as participants.
Promundo creates, innovates and experiments with new methodologies that are validated by health and education professionals and community members to ensure the success of their interventions/models and replication internationally by other institutions. Its models have been recognized in the past by NFPA, UNICEF, the World Bank and PNUD.
Fondo Ecuatoriano Populorum Progressio – Ecuador
Fondo Ecuatoriano Populorum Progresio’s (FEPP’s) main objective is to foster the development of rural and marginalized urban populations (indigenous, afroecuatorians, montubios and mestizos). FEPP has existed for 45 years and coordinates its programs with 2.175 grassroots organizations and supports 144.000 families or approximately 724.000 people in 21 provinces and 92 cantons in Ecuador.
It has pioneered and generated significant replicable impact on securing property rights and land stewardship and in supporting community microfinance. As a result of its work, local financial structures have emerged across the country, they perform financial intermediation, provide services to members and contribute to local development. These 18 provincial financial networks have united into a national network (RENAFIPSE).
FEPP has received several international awards for their work in agricultural microfinance from the UNDP (2003), the Italian social associations (2002 and 2004), and the Presidency of Ecuador (National Order of Merit).
ECONOMICS AND FINANCE CATEGORY
Fonkoze – Haiti
Fonkoze has fostered social inclusion in Haiti for the last 20 years. It includes Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze (SFF), the country’s largest microfinance institution and the Fonkoze Foundation, which provides complementary education, health and business development services to SFF clients and members of the community. SFF’s objective is two-fold: to lift Haitian families and communities out of poverty and move them towards financial independence. SFF is also committed to extending services to the most vulnerable communities in Haiti leveraging and integrating innovations – such as mobile phone technology- to reach additional clients; and build a fully Haitian organization by placing Haitian nationals on the Board and in key leadership positions.
Fonkoze has 200.000 active depositors and 60.000 borrowers, most are located in rural areas and are served by its national banking network.
It has played a key role in providing capital to small businesses and has fostered savings and entrepreneurship among women.
Fonkoze has developed “Boutik Santé,” a social franchise initiative that expands access to basic health products and services in rural areas while serving as a source of income for its clients, who then become franchisees.