The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the 2014 Call for Proposals of the Initiative for the Promotion of Regional Public Goods in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Initiative is based on the premise that the countries of the region share challenges or opportunities for development that can be addressed or seized upon more effectively and efficiently by means of regional co-operation.
In 2014, the Initiative will provide up to US$8 million in grants to finance regional public goods (RPGs) that are produced collectively by a group of IDB borrowing member countries. The Initiative is open to the promotion of RPGs in any development area covered by the IDB. However, alignment with the IDB's operational priorities is a selection criterion.
The Initiative is the bank's most prominent grant instrument to support intra-regional cooperation and the collective design of development solutions in LAC. Demand for its resources has intensified in tandem with the increasing importance of multi or bilateral South-South co-operation (SSC) in the development agenda of most LAC countries.
The interest in SSC among the bank's borrowing members is a reflection of the fact that the region is a source of innovative development solutions that can be shared and replicated by other countries in LAC and in other parts of the developing world.
The IDB has a long-standing commitment with its borrowing member states to foster functional co-operation and the promotion of RPGs. Its 2011 Sector Strategy to Support Competitive Global and Regional Integration in LAC reaffirms the importance of intra-regional cooperation as a corollary of economic integration and the "missing link" that often allows the countries to fully realise the benefits of economic integration.
All proposals must be presented in accordance with accordance with the CFP Guidelines and must be submitted online before 11.59 pm on April 24.