World Bank, China join hands to fight poverty 2005-06-03 China Daily
The World Bank yesterday launched the China Development Marketplace (DM), a
programme to identify and support innovative development ideas which can be
expanded or replicated in China.
The project is in partnership with the State Council Leading Group Office for
Poverty Reduction and Development (LGOP) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Country-level Development Marketplaces (CDMs) are "mini marketplaces" for
innovative ideas that address local development challenges.
They consist of a competitive process that awards small grants to social
innovators, and a knowledge forum to share ideas and provide networking
opportunities.
The China DM, which is scheduled to take place on December 7 and 8 this year,
will be the first country-level competition among Chinese organizations.
It has chosen as its theme "Supporting Innovations for Scaling-Up Services
that Reach the Poor", reflecting the joint efforts of the World Bank and the
Chinese Government to work with civil society organizations (CSOs) to fight
poverty.
Chinese CSOs will be invited to submit their project concepts during June and
July.
An independent team of assessors will select 100 finalists, who will be
invited to Beijing for a public exhibition of their projects on December 7 and 8
this year.
Fifty winning projects will be selected to receive funding of up to
US$30,000.
Through making these small grants, the China DM is expected to support
innovative projects that will help scale-up services for vulnerable groups, such
as women and children, the disabled, and ethnic minorities, in areas such as
education and health, environmental protection, and resource management.
It is also expected that the China DM will address topics including urban
poverty, unemployment and migrant workers, the use of science and technology for
poverty reduction, and rural integrated community poverty alleviation.
The World Bank has committed US$250,000 for the China DM and expects to raise
additional resources from donors, the business sector and individuals who have
an interest in supporting CSOs for their innovative poverty fighting projects,
said David Dollar, World Bank Country Director for China.
Similar programmes in other countries raised up to US$1 million, and Dollar
hopes the programme in China can set a new record in fund raising.
Since 1998, the World Bank's global Development Marketplace programme has
awarded nearly US$40 million to more than 1,000 ground-breaking projects in over
70 countries. |