Sudan development competition to take place 21 August – World Bank
August 19, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudan World Bank Country office is holding its Sudan Development Marketplace (DM) event that will take place on August 21-22, 2007 at the premises of the Central Bank of Sudan Club in Amarat, Khartoum.
The Development Marketplace (DM) is a World Bank program that invites people to share ideas for enhancing development outcomes by participating in transparent grant competitions, the World Bank said in a press release today.
This year the Bank DM team has received 523 proposals for its Sudan Development Marketplace competition. The project proposals came from all corners of the country and reflected the richness of the diversified Sudan. Out of the 523 project proposals submitted, 57 have been selected to compete for the grant awards to receive up to US$20,000, finalists proposals came from Southern Sudan, Darfur, Kordofan, the East and Greater Khartoum.
Asif Faiz, Country Manager, World Bank Sudan Office said “The theme for this year’s DM is “Towards an Inclusive Sudanese Society” has been selected to capture the aspirations of Sudanese people for peace and development. The aim is to support the recovery and reconstruction efforts in the country through pro-poor and pro-peace initiatives working towards consolidating peace and supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).”
Donors providing funds for the awards include DFID, the Netherlands and the World Bank. Other contributors provided in-kind support to the event including Meridian Hotel and the Central Bank of Sudan that has provided its club facility for the occasion.
The 57 finalists have submitted their full project proposals to be scrutinized by a panel of jurors consisting of Sudanese and non-Sudanese development practitioners. Finalists will be brought from their different locations to Khartoum, for displaying their project ideas and answer questions from a panel of independent jurors.
The jurors will then select the winners. The Khartoum event will also provide opportunity for finalists to interact with development experts and potential investors working in their areas of interest. The second day of the DM will host a Knowledge Forum in which experts will discuss issues of social accountability.
(ST)