The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development announced Wednesday at its Paris headquarters the winners of its second annual “DAC Award for Taking Development to Scale.” Judged by development professionals across the public and private sectors for their scalability and innovation, 10 finalists and three winners included a mobile payment platform, a network of plant health clinics, a cashew manufacturer and a pay-per-use solar energy provider, among others.
Asked what he felt distinguished this year’s winners among the more than 10,000 applicants, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD Douglas Frantz observed that, in addition to meeting scalability and innovation criteria, all awardees demonstrated results while partnering with government.
“What we saw here across the board — and something I think is especially important for meeting the [Sustainable Development Goals] — is the ability to partner with local governments,” he said. “What we need to see more of is partnerships between innovative entrepreneurs, philanthropists and governments willing to adapt to the innovation coming their way.”
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
