IDB announces winners of the 2020 Development Superheroes Award

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced the winners of the third edition of the 2020 Development Superheroes Award, which this time focused on recognizing operations that have been successfully adjusted to face the challenges of COVID-19 during its implementation.

The winners are:

• Merenda at home: guaranteeing security to feed two students from the Amazon in the midst of a pandemic, executed by the Secretary of State for Education of Amazonas (Brazil). This project developed an application with geo-processing tools and installed 37 strategic positions for the distribution of food kits for vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic, as well as a business intelligence tool that allowed the collection and processing of data to evaluate the effectiveness of the distribution. To solve the communication challenges, it was necessary to execute a comprehensive plan that included a channel to answer questions, receive complaints and help in the active search for parents and guardians.

• Professional Certificate of Support in IT (Brazil), implemented by the Associação Junior Achievement Brasil with the support of BID Lab. After the closure of the training classrooms for the certification in computer support due to the pandemic, many young people lost the opportunities that this program provided them. 30% of the beneficiaries did not have a computer, smartphone or internet connection, so it was necessary to equip them with the necessary tools to continue their courses through distance training. In addition, psychological support was integrated to mitigate the negative effects of confinement, such as stress, anxiety, family problems and financial pressure and, in collaboration with the organization JA Brasil, these young people were given virtual advice for selection processes that included the support for the preparation of job interviews.

• Strengthening Female Entrepreneurship in Brokopondo, Wanica, Sipaliwini and Marowijne, implemented by the agency Wi! Uma Fu Sranan from Suriname. Surivit is an agricultural company that enables Surinamese women to generate income through cassava production. After the pandemic, this project financed videos and virtual training materials for these women farmers, including an interactive mobile application that offers tools for their training in international standards required in agricultural practices. In turn, Surivit decided to keep the workers' wages and designed a system of sales and home deliveries through social networks of products derived from cassava, such as baby food. This boosted the local market, assured income and helped the population's food security.

• Tía: Innovative solidarity in the hardest moments (Ecuador), executed by the supermarket chain Tïa with a loan from IDB Invest. The project made it possible to develop a technological platform to allow the delivery of feeding kits to vulnerable families during the confinement caused by the pandemic, which not only mitigated health risks, but also gave a boost to small neighborhood stores strongly affected by the same confinement . In this way it was possible to cover a large part of the population at the national level, reaching 22 of the 24 provinces of the country. This tool not only proved its effectiveness by allowing better access to food, but also managed to benefit small shopkeepers (distributing their products), small food producers (supplying the program with their food), and families, since they received "rights to receive food"

The winners were selected by a panel of experts from the IDB Group based on three criteria: challenge that COVID-19 has represented on the execution of the project; actions implemented to face the challenge and its effects so far (for example, new activities, alternative processes, reformulation or restructuring of components, among others); recommendations on the process of adjustment and search for solutions, and how to face similar challenges in the future These innovative experiences will be presented by representatives of the executing agencies themselves and clients in a virtual event with the President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, next August 31 at 4:00 PM EST. You can follow the event at the following link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0yXZ5mvzTF2SI3I1iXAPag Meeting ID: 929 9854 9368