Ecuador Monopolizes the 10th Edition of The Good Regional Practices Prizes
The tenth edition of the Good Regional Practices Bank Prize, summoned by ORU Fogar, together with the United Nations Program for Development (UNPD), has broken all participation records, with the highest number of presented projects since its creation.
In this edition, Ecuador has become the main character, as it holds most of the given awards. The projects from the Decentralised Autonomous Government of the Province Pichincha and the Provincial Government of Azuay have stood out due to their innovation, social impact and their capacity to replicate in other territories.
Among the recognised practices appears “Punto Colibrí”, launched by the province of Pichincha, which offers quality health services to the LGTB+ Community. This initiative has been able to break the cultural, structural and symbolic barriers that obstacle the access to public health, building a more just and inclusive health system.
Also from Pichincha was highlighted the practice “Pichincha es Salud”, which provides free health services to rural and urbano-marginal communities. Since its launching in 2020, it has organised more than 230 health fairs and has treated more than 176,000 people, becoming an example of decentralised health management.
The jury also wanted to recognise the work from the Government of the Province of Cordoba, Argentina, with the “Diplomatura Universitaria en Acompañantes Comunitarias contra la Violencia de Género”, a program that trains women and communities to prevent and act against gender violence. The initiative has been replicated in 14 argentinian provinces, and it is promoted by the Women Secretariat of Cordoba, that leads the ORU Fogar Working Group for Gender Equality, something that gives it a special and symbolic meaning to this award.
As for the Provincial Government of Azuay (Ecuador), it was highlighted its project “Restauración ecológica participativa de humedales”, that combines environmental sustainability and citizen participation to recover ecosystems affected by agricultural overexploitation.
Finally, another Pichincha practice, the “Programa de Asistencia Médica para Amas de Casa no Remuneradas”, was recognised for guaranteeing health access for women that, in spite of their essential job, they lack health cover.
The Regional Good Practices Prizes were given once ORU Fogar’s Annual General Assembly was finished, held this year in Dakar, Senegal, by the President, Rachid El Abdi, and by the President of the Department Association of Senegal, Ahmed Youssouf Bengelloune.
The winning practices will form part of the ORU Fogar Good Regional Practices Bank, which can be found in its web page. According to the contest rules, they are practices that may be copied and used further away from the geography that saw them being born, so that they can inspire policies and programmes in other regions of the world.
With the incorporation of these new initiatives, the Good Practices Bank has more than 50 examples of awarded projects throughout the ten years trajectory.
