IDB Group announces the finalists for the 2021 Superheroes of Development Initiative

Latin America / Caribbean – The IDB Group announced today the eight finalists for the fourth edition of its Superheroes of Development Award, which recognizes creative and innovative solutions in the execution of development projects financed by the IDB Group in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The award, created to promote operational excellence in projects by executing agencies within borrowing member countries of the IDB Group received 91 proposals from 24 countries in its 2021 edition.

Through systematic learning, knowledge sharing, and the application of lessons learned, Superheroes of development highlights projects that adjust to the changing realities of our partners, especially in the context of the economic and social crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its fourth edition, Superheroes of Development aligns with the bank’s 2025 Vision that seeks, among other aspects, to improve the implementation of projects, their monitoring and the measurement of results that guarantee a positive impact on the lives of people in Latin America and the Caribbean. Above all, it is about reactivating the productive sector, promoting social progress and strengthening good governance and institutions.

The eight finalists were selected by an IDB Group panel of experts based on three criteria:

1) the challenges they faced and the impact they had on project performance.

2) the solution they implemented to overcome the challenge and evidence of their success.

3) the lessons learned, with recommendations on how future projects can overcome similar challenges.

The project teams participated in two categories:

1) Executing agencies or clients that have successfully addressed challenges in the execution of projects, in order to share the learnings that emerge from their experience.

2) Executing agencies and clients that have successfully met their development objectives.

The finalists are:

• Inclusion and citizen participation that transformed the habitat of the precarious urban settlement Las Palmeras in El Salvador (El Salvador);
• IncluTec: training in technology and knowledge economy (Argentina);
• Development of an alternative model of virtual home care in Active Aging centers in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic (Uruguay);
• ICTs for inclusion in times of COVID-19 (Ecuador);
• Changing the landscape of a nation through digital transformation (Bahamas);
• Digital transformation with participation, persistence and a pinch of Axé (Brazil);
• Inquiry and problem-based Learning (Belize);
• Rural cadastre in Ecuador: free and participatory technology for land governance (Ecuador);

In September, the finalists will appear before a panel made up of the institution’s senior management. Four winners will participate in October in a virtual discussion with the president of the IDB, Mauricio Claver-Carone. Likewise, the teams of the winning projects will be able to take advantage of the knowledge and learning offer of IDB Academy and obtain digital certificates of up to two courses per person at no cost.

Additionally, the IDB will share these success stories throughout Latin America and the Caribbean so that they can contribute both to improving project execution and preparing new operations.