Awards Galore

March has already been a great month for IAF’s partners. Several of them won awards presented at ceremonies around the world for their efforts to alleviate poverty, include marginalized peoples and protect the environment.

The Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia selected Asociación para el Desarrollo Campesino (ADC) from among 49 competitors in the agricultural best practices category of the Rymel Serrano Uribe Prize. ADC uses its IAF grant to help small-scale farmers improve their production and incomes so they are not forced to abandon their land for an uncertain future in city slums. The award ceremony will be held on March 20 in every Universidad Cooperativa campus across Colombia, which will be interconnected via Web video to transmit the event.

Comisión de Acción Social Menonita (CASM) won the ACT Alliance Climate Change Best Practice Award for its outstanding efforts to address deforestation and food security in Honduras. The prize will be presented at a ceremony coinciding with the United Nation’s 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, March 14-18 in Sendai City, Japan.

The Zero Project Award recognized a series of workshops sponsored by Open Society Institute, the Organization of American States, Trust for the Americas and the IAF; which have the goal of forming a network to protect the legal rights of people with disabilities in the Americas. The prize was given on March 6 at a side event coinciding with the 28th regular session of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva.

On March 4, IAF grantee Alianza Comunitaria Conservacionista de Turismo Alternativo Rural (ACTUAR) received its prize for winning the To Do International Contest for Socially Responsible Tourism at a ceremony in Berlin. The Costa Rican grantee used its IAF grant to open the Regiones café, gallery and store in San José to sell the products of its 40 member organizations and promote community tourism.