The Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project is a competitive grant program under the umbrella of the Global Development Awards Competition, administered by GDN, funded under the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD) trust fund managed by the World Bank, and generously supported by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Japan. The award program invites non-profit NGOs and CSOs to submit project proposals supporting (in particular) improved service delivery, and innovative approaches that may be scaled-up through a grant.
The Award targets projects currently at the stage of implementation, and which have a high potential for impact targeting exceptionally marginalized and disadvantaged groups located in developing countries - per the World Bank’s recognition as low and middle income countries.
BACKGROUND
GDN invited non-profit Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from low- and lower-middle-income countries to submit project applications within the following three themes for the 2021 edition of the MIDP:
Theme 1: Universal health coverage and COVID
Theme 2: Community-driven, climate-related, disaster risk reduction in rural areas
Theme 3: Quality urban infrastructure and community driven governance
For each theme, the winning projects will receive grants worth USD 45,000. In total, the MIDP category will award 9 grants worth USD 135,000. The awards will be given to organizations whose projects embody an innovative approach to an important development need and hold the greatest promise for:
I. responding directly to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, underserved groups to improve their lives aiming at rapid results for improved livelihood;
II. supporting initiatives that lead to developing sustainable outcomes through the scaling-up of the project.
Finalists will be invited to join a communications training in preparation of a pitch of their project in front of a high-level jury. An online award ceremony was held as part of the 'Evidence for Development: What Works Global Summit' in October 2021.
The two first prize winners under each theme are to receive a grant of USD 20,000 each. The second prize will receive a grant of USD 5,000. In addition, the World Bank-administered Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) team will review the suitability of the proposals winning the First Prize for a much larger grant of up to USD 200,000 under the auspices of the JSDF, one per theme.
JURY & WINNERS
Theme 1 - Universal health coverage and COVID
Members of the Universal health coverage and COVID (Theme 1) Jury
- Abhijit Nadkarni, Associate Professor, Department of Population Health, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
- Prashant Yadav, Center for Global Development, Washington, DC, United States of America. Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. Affiliate Professor, Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France
- Saeda Makimoto, Principal Research Fellow, JICA Ogata Research Institute, Japan
1st prize winners
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Kids Home Development Network Foundation. : Thailand. : Access to Healthcare for Migrant Families in Thai Construction Site Camps.
Country
Project
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Uninhibited. : India. : Hello Saathi
Country
Project
2nd prize winner
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United Way of Mumbai. : India. : Establishing Infection Prevention & Control Mechanism in Public Hospitals
Country
Project
Theme 2 - Community-driven, climate-related, disaster risk reduction in rural areas
Members of the Community-driven, climate-related, disaster risk reduction in rural areas (Theme 2) Jury
- Loretta Hieber Girardet, Chief Risk Knowledge, Monitoring and Capacity Development at United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
- Masahiro Shoji, Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan
- Saeid Eslamian, Director, Center of Excellence in Risk Management and Natural Hazards, Iran. Professor, College of Agricultural Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran
1st prize winners
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International Aid Services Kenya (IAS K). : Kenya. : Capacity building of local community against climate change and improved livelihood, Tharaka North County Kenya
Country
Project
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CII Foundation/Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). : India. : Cleaner Air Better Life - Crop Residue Management Project
Country
Project
2nd prize winner
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Dufatanye Organization. : Rwanda. : Expansion of villages of hope in two villages in Nyanza district, RwandaUnited Way of Mumbai, India
Country
Project
Theme 3 - Quality urban infrastructure and community-driven governance
Members of the Quality urban infrastructure and community-driven governance (Theme 2) Jury
- Helena Nkole, Program Manager -Japan Policy and Human Resources Development (PHRD) Fund & Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), World Bank Group's Development Finance, World Bank
- Parul Agarwala, Country Programme Manager, UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme), India
- Ramona Angelescu Naqvi, Director | Strategic Partnerships, Global Development Network (GDN)
1st prize winners
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Bal Raksha Bharat (Save the Children India). : India. : Dream Accelerator Project.
Country
Project
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International Transformation Foundation (ITF). : Kenya. : A water kiosk at school - Karugia Secondary School
Country
Project
2nd prize winner
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Clean up Nepal. : Nepal. : Expansion Nepal Waste Map, a digital waste management system: A community empowered governance
Country
Project
IMPORTANT DATES
● Deadline for submissions: 12 June 2021
● Announcement of Eligibility screening results: 14 June 2021
● Announcement of Desk review results (1st shortlisted applications): 30 June 2021
● Announcement of Business review results (2nd shortlisted applications): 16 July 2021
● Site visits to 2nd shortlisted applications: 19 July until 13 August 2021
● Announcement of finalists: 15 September 2021
● Announcement of winners: 24 October 2021
Finalists are expected to be available during the following periods
- 20-21 October 2021 – Communications training
- 22-24 October 2021 – Session at the physical event for the presentation of their projects to the jury
Note: Are you part of a researcher from a low- or lower-middle-income country? Check the call for the 2021 edition of the Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD)
Call for Projects (competition guidelines, eligibility and review criteria, application procedure, selection process and a detailed description of the themes) | MIDP Application Template | FAQs | Call for MIDP Reviewers (extended till 13 May) | Call for a Communications Training Consultant
[Call for Projects](https://www.notion.so/Call-for-Projects-c8ede2b555ef4d70bfaf36d61103660d)
[MIDP Application Template](https://www.notion.so/MIDP-Application-Template-14d91733ef1a4909905679061a5aafab)
[FAQs](https://www.notion.so/FAQs-192ac25377fb46d7926ff5f0c23d97b8)
[Call for MIDP Reviewers](https://www.notion.so/Call-for-MIDP-Reviewers-ec1b28f1f4bd4e10ba6085e204481527)
[Call for a Communications Training Consultant](https://www.notion.so/Call-for-a-Communications-Training-Consultant-99119aa2fbe54c5ea1e2d7ab1f1b0df3)