The World Bank Group and Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) has awarded a 99,500 US dollars prize to an Armenian technology business foundation to help reduce incidents of gender-based violence (GBV).
The award, part of the 2018 Development Marketplace for Innovation to Address Gender-Based Violence, will support the Armenian Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) to deploy mobile applications and digital technologies that empower women with real-time expert support and information, and that collect critical data needed to inform policy on a larger scale.
The award will also enable EIF to promote dialogue among stakeholders in the field of GBV and ICT professionals.
“I am very pleased to congratulate the Enterprise Incubator Foundation, our long-standing partner, with this outstanding award,” said World Bank Country Manager for Armenia Sylvie Bossoutrot.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
Caren Grown, senior director, gender, World Bank Group added: “Studies show that gender-based violence can cost economies up to 3.7 per cent of GDP due to lost productivity, in addition to the direct harm caused to women and men. The World Bank Group is proud to support the Development Marketplace winners, whose projects seek to find sustainable and scalable approaches to preventing GBV for us today and for future generations.”
Launched in 2015 in memory of Hannah Graham, daughter of a longtime World Bank Group employee, the Development Marketplace is an annual competition for researchers to findi innovative solutions that can help individuals, communities, and nations stamp out GBV.
This year’s winners, chosen from more than 250 submissions from research institutions, NGOs, and aid and other organizations around the world, come from Armenia, Cambodia, Colombia, Honduras, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Rwanda, and South Africa.
Winning teams received up to 100,000 US dollars each and were chosen based on overall merit, research or project design and methods, significance, team expertise, and ethical considerations.
The SVRI Grant, a global innovation award started in 2014, previously awarded more than US$1 million to nine projects in seven countries. With more than 5500 members, SVRI is one of the largest global research networks focused on preventing violence against women. SVRI supports research by disseminating and sharing knowledge and nurturing collaboration and networking, and improves policy and practice by supporting and funding research and capacity development. It hosts an international forum every two years to advance and expand research on sexual and intimate partner violence.
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