RIYADH, 16 September 2006 — A community based primary health care project in Azerbaijan has been awarded the first prize by the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) at its International Development Prize Committee meeting under the chairmanship of its president, Prince Talal.
The prize, which carried a cash award of $150,000, was meant for a project in the field of sustainable primary health services, training and job creation for the poor in rural areas.
"A total of 37 nominated projects from 23 states were received by the AGFUND and it had to go through a panel of experts who reviewed and evaluated the projects before it reached its International Prize Committee (IPC)," an official from the AGFUND said.
Members of IPC include Islamic Development Bank (IDB) President Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, Member of the European Parliament Baroness Emma Nicholson, Founder and Managing Director of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus, the former Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development Y. Seyyid Abdulai, and Mercedes Menafra de Batlle, head of the Tudos Por Uruguay -- a leading Uruguayan development organization.
The other two prizes worth $100,000 and $50,000 were respectively awarded to a Mauritius project aimed at discovering education resources for primary schools initiated by Shoals Rodrigues and also to a scheme in Uzbekistan initiated by Dildar Alimbekova to train women on vocation and business skills. In addition to the cash award, the recipients got trophies and appreciation certificates at a special ceremony organized by AGFUND recently.
The committee announced "Human Trafficking" to be the topic for the year 2007. "AGFUND International Development Prize is an annual prize awarded to honor the pioneering development projects in the developing countries. It aims at encouraging continuity in implementing pioneering development projects and stimulating the efforts of those who are capable of contributing to developmental and humanitarian action in the developing countries. This reflects the keenness and continued endeavors of AGFUND to support the efforts targeting the alleviation of human suffering and pain," said the AGFUND official.
