“Together for the sake of the countryside” … a developmental alliance struck by AGFUND Prize

When Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz President of the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND), shall declare on Tuesday the thirtieth of November the winning projects of AGFUND Global Prize, the whole world shall receive a new developmental “alliance”. The Malaysian capital shall witness the meeting of the most prominent development advocates working for the sake of the remote community. AGFUND Global Prize for Leading Developmental Projects on 2010 is dedicated to “Developing remote and rural communities via ICT”. The subject of the prize is to be selected and defined by the expert members of the Prize Committee chaired by Prince Talal. His Highness set up the Arab Gulf Program for Development in the eighties of the last century. It targets at assisting the developing communities, fighting poverty, developing childhood and empowering the roles of women. The tendency of AGFUND Prize towards critical development issues is one of the creative means of developmental assistance and financing projects. The Prize is an innovative and creative means of developmental assistance and financing projects. It is the first initiative ever to motivate developmental contributions, pinpoint successful models and disseminate creative ideas to support the excellent efforts aiming at developing the concepts and dimensions of sustainable human development and introducing a breakthrough in developmental work based on scientific grounds which assist in achieving its objectives. Ever since it has been launched in 1999, the Prize covered 23 developmental subjects in the fields of poverty fighting, health, education, training, development of early childhood, water, combating negative phenomena and agriculture. AGFUND Prize adopts its nature from the globally renowned organization which handles surrounding developmental problems. AGFUND is well known for its strong relations with the UN and its specialized agencies. As long as AGFUND provides its developmental assistance without discrimination, the Prize is characterized by transparency especially in the arbitration of the nominated projects. AGFUND works towards establishing the global concept of its Prize and expressing – through this Prize – the partnerships of these peoples in the issues of development. Therefore, the Prize Committee which consists of paramount developmental characters such as the global economist Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for his efforts in fighting poverty, approved on the “decentralization” of the ceremonies of awarding the Prize. On such basis and during the recent years, the Global Prize of the Arab Gulf Program for Leading Developmental Projects roamed through Switzerland, France, India, Tunisia, South Africa, Poland and Turkey.