The South Asia Region Development Marketplace recently accounced 75 finalists (out of a total of approximately 1000) for their HIV/AIDS themed competition for this year. What exactly is the South Asia Development Marketplace, and what purpose does it serve? Here is a brief description from their website:
The Development Marketplace (DM) is a competitive grant program that identifies and supports small-scale development projects that have the potential to be expanded or replicated. The program operates at a global, regional or country level, and uses a transparent process to support innovations that address development challenges at the community level.
The objective of the South Asia DM [in particular], is to identify and fund innovative approaches for how to reduce stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS in the region. The South Asia Regional Development Marketplace will support initiatives that use innovative approaches to fight the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS. We are looking for efforts that tackle prejudice of HIV and AIDS at the community and/or other levels.
To see a brief summary of the finalists for this year, go here. Approximately 20 – 25 winners will be selected by May 15th, 2008.