Eleven organisations based in six countries, including one in India, will receive the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced in Chicago. These constitute grants of $350,000 to $1 million each.
The organisations' missions range from protecting biodiversity to fighting poverty, analysing how tax policy impacts people to improving maternal and child health among the impoverished.
‘Highly creative'
They were described in a media release as “highly creative and effective organisations that have made a remarkable impact in their fields, driving significant change on modest budgets.” MacArthur President Robert Gallucci said: “These exceptional organisations effectively address pressing national and international challenges and they have had an impact that is disproportionate to their small size.”
Action Research & Training for Health, based in Rajasthan, will get $350,000, or about Rs.1.59 crore at the current rate of exchange. It promotes sexual and reproductive health, neonatal and child health, and health systems and policy in rural Rajasthan.
The other awardee from Asia is the Royal Society for Protection of Nature based in Thimphu ($350,000). It is Bhutan's only national non-profit organisation, and focusses on the conservation of the country's environment and biodiversity.
The Arms Control Association, based in Washington ($500,000); the Bay Area Video Coalition based in San Francisco ($1,000,000); the National Alliance of Latin American & Caribbean Communities based in Chicago ($350,000); Redress, based in London ($500,000); the Sargent Shriver National Centre on Poverty Law based in Chicago ($1,000,000); the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre based in Lagos ($350,000); the Sociedad Mexicana Pro Derechos de la Mujer based in Mexico City ($750,000) that seeks to protect the rights of Mexican women; the Urban Institute's Tax Policy Centre based in Washington ($1,000,000); and the W. Haywood Burns Institute based in San Francisco ($750,000) are the other organisations chosen.
