First Prize: Women’s Institute Foundation, Chile.

Since 2007, The Women’s Institute Foundation has worked with female immigrants from the Andean region that have migrated to Chile. It offers them psychological counseling and training on themes like civic responsibility, in addition to protecting their human rights. It works in the four regions of Chile with the highest numbers of immigrants.

The Foundation has helped more than 2,000 people, particularly female immigrants who receive information about various existing social and community networks that enable them to feel less vulnerable and to know their rights and personal strengths.

More info: http://www.insmujer.cl

Second Prize: Rahab Foundation, Costa Rica.

The Rahab Foundation has worked for 14 years helping women and children that have been victims of sex trafficking. It offers socio-educational groups, psychological counseling, medical treatment, legal support, academic support, help in the search for housing, economic support to start small businesses, and an employment agency to beneficiaries and their families.

It was a pioneer in the reestablishment of the victims of sex and human trafficking in Costa Rica, as well as the initiator of laws to sanction and prevent this crime. It was also pioneer in the use of different social networks to create awareness about the subject, which influenced the formation of the National Coalition Against the Illegal Trafficking of Migrants and Human Trafficking”

The Foundation has rescued, attended to, and trained 1,500 direct victims of sex trafficking and 4,564 indirect victims. It has trained 18,000 public and private employees like: judges, district attorneys, police, and research organizations. It has been recognized by the Department of State of the United States (its director won the Award for Heroism in the area of Human Trafficking in 2009).

More info: http://www.fundacionrahabcr.org

Third Prize: Pro-Social Housing Foundation, Argentina.

The Pro-Social Housing Foundation has been working for 20 years in the northeast metropolitan region of Buenos Aires, where more than 2 million people live in neighborhoods lacking in infrastructure and with serious problems with poverty.

Through its Neighborhood Development Plan, it is implementing programs to increase access to basic services (gas pipeline), housing improvement (microcredits), and social inclusion (Center for Community Education).

The microcredit program has provided more than 11,500 families with (low interest) credit to improve their homes (for a total of 75,000 square meters of housing). The Access to the Gas Pipeline project has connected more than 4,500 families to the natural gas network and built more than 70,000 meters of pipes, which generated a 75% reduction in the cost of gas. It has received financing from MIF and technical support from the UNDP. This ensures the resources and the necessary know-how to replicate their model.

More info: http://www.fpvs.org

Academic work: “Proposal and plans to reduce poverty and inequality” by Guillermo Cruces and Leonardo Gasparini.

DOWNLOAD - Academic Work

he Panel of Judges named the following candidates as finalists:

Vaga Lume Association, Brazil.

Fundacion Ak Tenamit, Guatemala.

ECODES Foundation, Spain.

DOWNLOAD - Panel of Judges Certificate