Thirty Chinese non-government organizations (NGOs) have won awards totaling 650,000 U.S. dollars in a competition sponsored by the World Bank for innovative poverty reduction projects, the bank said on Saturday.

The China Development Marketplace, a new initiative of the World Bank to support and strengthen grassroots civil society organizations (CSOs) in China, selected the top projects from 100 finalists. The winners proposed reduction of poverty through a range of different approaches.

The winning ideas included supplying environmentally sustainable biological gas to single mothers in Hubei Province; creating support networks for waste collectors in Shenzhen City; teaching poor children believing in Islam in pasturing areas of Xinjiang vocational skills by providing them with micro-credit.

He Shenghua is the winner of a project that will create community service centers to teach deaf youngsters vocational skills in East China's Jiangxi Province.

She said teaching sign language enhances communication not only between deaf children and their parents, but also within the wider deaf-mute community throughout China. "Every penny of the grant from China Development Marketplace will be spent on promoting services for deaf people in society."

Entitled "Supporting Innovations for Scaling-Up Services that Reach the Poor", the scheme reflects the World Bank's commitment to promoting the potential of CSOs to improve their communities, the bank said.

World Bank Vice President Frannie Leautier said China has made significant achievements in poverty reduction, but there are still challenges.

"It is important and necessary for civil society organizations to play a key role in supplementing the government's efforts in the fight against poverty.

"Often focusing on particular districts, and working closely with local governments, CSO interventions involve capacity building, training and service-delivery in micro-credit, agriculture, off-farm employment, education, health, water and sanitation, and other activities," said the vice president.

Almost 1,000 applicants from all over China submitted their ideas on how to best reduce poverty.

The 100 finalists with the best ideas were invited to Beijing for the two-day competition to showcase and share their unique ideas.

A diverse and eminent jury selected the winners during the event. Many of these judges came from China Development Marketplace partner organizations, including government agencies, academia, non-profit organizations, media, Chinese corporations, multinational corporations and the international donor community.

Each of the winners received up to 30,000 U.S. dollars to implement their projects.

David Dollar, China Country Director of the World Bank, thanked the finalists for their participation in the competition and for the role they are playing to reduce poverty around the country, saying, "In my mind they are all winners because they are doing important and rewarding work on the ground."

Source: Xinhua