Deadline: 14 November 2022
Apply now for the GDN Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project (MIDP) 2022!The theme of the 2022 edition is ‘Post-COVID-19 Governance – Learning from challenging circumstances to build better governance systems’.
The Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project is a competitive grant program under the umbrella of the Global Development Awards Competition (GDAC), administered by GDN, funded under the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD) trust fund managed by the World Bank, and generously supported by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Japan.
The award program invites non-profit NGOs and CSOs to submit project proposals supporting (in particular) improved service delivery, and innovative approaches that may be scaled-up through a grant. The Award targets projects currently at the stage of implementation, and which have a high potential for impact targeting exceptionally marginalized and disadvantaged groups located in developing countries – per the World Bank’s recognition as low and middle income countries.
Benefit
The winning projects will receive grants worth US$ 120,000. The awards given to organizations whose projects embody an innovative approach to an important development need and hold the greatest promise for:
- responding directly to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, underserved groups to improve their lives aiming at rapid results for improved livelihood;
- Supporting initiatives that lead to developing sustainable outcomes through the scaling-up of the project.
- The two first prize winners will receive a grant of US$ 50,000 each. The second prize will receive a grant of US$ 20,000. Additionally, awardees will be paired with a Technical Advisor throughout the entire implementation of the grant.
- Finalists invited to join communications training in preparation of a pitch of their project in front of a high-level Jury.This decides the research proposal to award, at a physical event in March/April 2023 and projects expected to start in May 2023.
Awards
Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) Award
The JSDF award focuses on piloting socially innovative development projects identified as having the potential for development impact and replicability through the MIDP Award.
The objective of JSDF Award is to support community-driven development and poverty reduction programs that serve to enhance productivity, increase access to social and community services and infrastructure, more so improve the living conditions of poor and vulnerable groups in eligible countries.
The two first prize winners will compete for the JSDF award after a minimum of 12 months implementation of their MIDP grant. GDN will review the suitability of the proposals for a much larger grant of up to US$ 200,000 within the framework of the World Bank-administered Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF).
Connector Grant
The 2022 edition will introduce the Connector Grant which aims to stimulate international cooperation through the development of collaborative projects to support scale-up efforts with research-based evidence.
The Connector grant awarded to ORD grantees, based on a project developed in collaboration with the MIDP grantees who received the JSDF grant. This grant will support the award recipients’ collaborative efforts towards measuring and analyzing scale-up impact, as well as to enhance the robustness of their M&E activities.
Eligibility
- The MIDP is open to non-profit Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from the list of above to submit applications on projects currently at the stage of implementation.
- Projects must have started its implementation on 1 June 2021 or before to be considered eligible.
- Additionally, NGOs/CSOs applying for the MIDP category must be eligible to receive funds from abroad according to the national legal framework (e. g. in India, the NGO/CSO must be FCRA compliant).
- The upper age limit for all applicants is 45 years by the end of 2022. Individuals above 45 years of age as of 1 January 2023 are not eligible to apply.
- Applicants from previous years (except winners) may re-apply, but they must update the application to include new aspects of the project. Previous MIDP winners are not eligible to apply.
- An organization can only submit one application.
Eligible countries
Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; American Samoa; Angola; Argentina; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belize; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; China; Comoros; Colombia; Costa Rica; Congo, Dem. Rep; Congo, Rep.; Côte d’Ivoire; Cuba; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Eritrea; Eswatini; Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia; Fiji; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea- Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Dem. People’s Rep;
Also
 Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Madagascar; Malaysia; Malawi; Maldives; Mali; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Nepal; Namibia; Nicaragua; Niger ,Nigeria; North Macedonia; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Samoa; São Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Sudan; Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Tanzani; Timor-Leste; Thailand; Togo; Tonga; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Vietnam; West Bank and Gaza; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe.
 Application
Important dates (tentative)
- Deadline for submissions: 14 November 2022
- Announcement of Eligibility screening results: 21 November 2022
- Announcement of Desk review results (1st shortlisted applications): 15 December 2022
- Announcement of Business review results (2nd shortlisted applications): 30 December 2022
- Site visits to 2nd shortlisted applications: 2 January until 27 January 2023
- Announcement of finalists: 17 February 2023
- Announcement of winners: March/April 2023
- Finalists are expected to be available for the Communications Training and the physical event for the presentation of their projects to the jury in March/April. The date will be announced in late 2022.
Click here for the application template
Vist GDN webpage for further information on GDN Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project (MIDP) 2022
