In its seventh iteration, the contest received a record 149 entries

The IDB Group on Friday, September 13 announced the five finalists of Superheroes of Development 2024, an initiative that honours learning in development projects funded by the bank in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

The winning projects will receive their awards in Washington, DC, on December 12.

After thoroughly considering all entries, the judges for this contest narrowed down the projects to the following finalists:

• Mariluz’s Journey to Recycling, the power of social engagement in sustainability (Bolivia).
• Circular Socioeconomic as a Vector for Local Development Using Waste from the Supply Chain of the South (Brazil).
• Social and Economic Entrepreneurship for Fighting Deforestation (Colombia).
• Program to Accelerate Learning through Tutoring in Vulnerable Honduran Communities (Honduran).
• Xochi, the Flower Road (Guatemala).

The seventh Superheroes of Development contest enjoyed record participation, with 149 submissions from 26 countries in the region. All projects had the common thread of proposing creative and innovative solutions to challenges and identifying lessons from their experience that can be shared with everyone and create an impact in other countries in the region.

Superheroes of Development is an initiative of BIDAcademy, the IDB Group’s knowledge and learning platform. “The IDB believes that knowledge is crucial to effective development and to achieving an impact in the region, making it essential to constantly and systematically share key knowledge and lessons that can help optimise, monitor and evaluate IDB-financed projects. The Superheroes of Development initiative pursues this objective,” the IDB said.

The five finalists were selected by a panel of IDB Group experts and participated in two categories:

• Projects still underway (projects that have at least had an initial disbursement) or where the IDB Invest or IDB Lab client has received financing.
• Projects completed since January 2016 that have either a Project Completion Report or an Expanded Supervision Report.

The finalists will present their projects on December 12 to a panel of senior IDB Group officers, who will select the two winners. The IDB will also share these success stories throughout Latin America and the Caribbean to improve projects already in progress and inform the preparation of new projects.