Barbados among four countries in line for IDB award

WASHINGTON, Aug 28, CMC – Barbados is among four Latin America and Caribbean countries that have made it to the finals of the first edition of the Superheroes of Development Award organised by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The Washington based financial institution said that award recognizes the innovative solutions devised and valuable lessons learned by executing agencies while implementing projects
“The award is part of an effort to improve the performance of IDB-financed projects through systematic learning and knowledge sharing,” the IDB said, noting that it had received 86 submissions for the contest from projects in its 26 borrowing member countries and in all areas of development.
The Barbados entry was entitled “Empowering the Labour Force of the Future” and IDB said that the other finalists have come from Peru, Honduras and Bolivia.
“The finalists were selected by a panel of internal and external development experts who followed four criteria: pertinence of the execution challenge described; innovation; impact of the solution, and relevance of the knowledge that can be shared with other projects,” the IDB noted.
It said the work of the finalists will be showcased during the IDB Knowledge Week, to be held in Washington in October, when the winning team will be announced.
“The IDB will share these stories throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, so they may contribute to ongoing projects, as well as to the preparation of new operations,” it added.