WASHINGTON — To recognize the work done by multilateral development banks, the United States Treasury Department honored five exceptional development projects at the third annual Development Impact Honors ceremony, a night that brought together MDB senior leaders, members of Congress, development community leaders and senior officials of the Obama administration.
The ceremony promoted excellence in international development by honoring outstanding projects that delivered palpable improvements in job creation, clean energy use expansion, infrastructure development and food security.
The award-receiving projects reflected, according to the Treasury Department, the critical work carried out by MDBs to strengthen communities worldwide, while simultaneously furthering U.S. security and economic interests.
Many focused specifically on providing health support, offering educational and economic opportunities and improving infrastructure in the most vulnerable communities of the world.
“When you consider recent global events, it is clear that we must continue to support international financial institutions like those that we are honoring today.” said Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. “Yet our support goes beyond funding. We have marshaled our best experts and best thinking to make measurable progress on reducing poverty, promoting broadly-shared economic growth, and expanding our trade partners.”
The five development projects, from a pool of almost thirty nominees, were evaluated by a senior inter-agency group of representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development, Department of State, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Treasury Department and Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Key areas considered were the projects’ effects on the livelihoods of beneficiary communities, innovation in tackling development challenges, learning from previous projects’ experience and sticking to the utmost social and environmental standards.
The projects have made notable achievements around the world: more than a quarter million new students enrolled in school and over a half million received primary health services in Yemen, more than 208,000 small farmer households were introduced to a sustainable model of microfinance support in Bangladesh and poverty was cut while food security improved for approximately 241,000 West African agricultural households.
The honorees were The New Rice for Africa Project, the Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif Railway Project, the Salkhit Wind Farm Project, the Galpäo Aplauso: Sociocultural and Productive Integration of At-Risk Youth in Rio de Janeiro Project, the Microfinance for Marginal and Small Farmers Project and the Third Public Works Project.
The African Development Bank was awarded for the NERICA Project, which has benefited Benin, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Mali, and Sierra Leone. Those seven West African countries asked in 2005 for help in developing improved rice varieties and introducing new technology to promote food security. The African Development Bank answered with a $34 million grant by which farmers learned the technology, inputs, and skills that empowered them to sustainably increase both the yields and protein content of rice varieties.
Because of this project, more than 35,000 participants were raised above the extreme poverty line of living on $1.25 per day.
The Asian Development Bank was honored for the Hairatan to Mazar-e-Sharif Railway Project, which improved Afghanistan’s transportation infrastructure to help the flow of resources that is vital for the post-war and landlocked country’s reconstruction and economic development. With $165 from the Asian Development Bank, Afghanistan constructed its first railway line with impressive speed.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was recognized for its Salkhit Wind Farm Project, which introduced wind-generated renewable energy into heavily coal-reliant Mongolia for the first time. The bank worked closely with a wide range of private and public sector partners, from General Electric to bilateral development agencies in the Netherlands and Japan, to realize this project that now supplies almost five percent of the country’s electricity requirements.
The Mongolian government’s goal is to generate a quarter of the nation’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
The Inter-American Development Bank was praised for financing at-risk Brazilian youths, who face dismal economic prospects, for their training in basic and soft skills, vocational training and job placement services. The Galpão Aplauso: Sociocultural and Productive Integration of At-Risk Youth in Rio de Janeiro Project was unique for going beyond technical training – it emphasized the development of often overlooked socio-emotional ‘soft’ skills like confidence, ethics, civic responsibility and self-esteem, as well as incorporating arts and theater as learning tools.
So far, the project has increased its participants’ employment prospects by almost 20 percent and caused an average increase of $70 in monthly earnings.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development received commendation for its Microfinance for Marginal and Small Farmers Project, which created a feasible and sustainable model of microfinance support for more than 208,000 small farmer households, who cultivate almost 40 percent of Bangladesh’s agricultural land. The investments from the project have increased sales, crop yields, and income in addition to reducing child malnutrition by over 10 percent.
The World Bank was applauded for its Third Public Works Project, which provided Yemen, one of the world’s least developed and poorest countries, with basic infrastructure and temporary employment. It focused on seven crucial areas: education, health, water supply and sanitation schemes, water harvesting schemes, vocational training and local streets and roads. Basic infrastructure projects included rehabilitating and building facilities, renovating and constructing classrooms and school furniture, paving stone roads and improving water supply management.
Skilled and unskilled Yemenis were employed in the execution of all these projects.
Project results have been palpable: water access improved for about 209,000 people, primary health services extended to over a half million people, more than a quarter million new students enrolled in school and over a half million people now have access to an all-season road.
“These kinds of successful investments help to create the next generation of emerging markets and strengthen our national security,” Lew said.
– Annie Jung
Sources: IIP Digital, US Department of the Treasury, US Mission Geneva, All Africa
Photo: Treasury