Street Child United, Motivation and Saferworld have been named winners of Bond International Development Awards, the UK’s first international development awards.

Justine Greening, secretary of State for International Development, announced the winners at a ceremony in Saddlers Wells, London, last night.

The awards celebrate the innovative and exciting work by British international development organisations.

They are an initiative of Bond, the UK membership body that unites over 400 development organisations working for the world’s most vulnerable people.

Entrants to the awards submitted short videos to illustrate positive collaborations, the theme of this year’s awards.

There are three winners, one for each of the awards’ three categories of small, medium and large organisations:

The winner in the small-organisation category is Street Child United, whose video When the world conspired with us shows how Street Child United brings together many partners, including civil society organisations, business and government, to bring about change for vulnerable young people.

The judges were particularly struck by the humility of those involved and the sense of fun they injected into the lives of the children the project touched.

The winner in the medium organisation category is Motivation, whose video The right wheelchair, in the right way shows how its guidelines for the provision of manual wheelchairs in the developing world, a collaboration with the World Health Organization, can transform lives.

The judges said: “While the film gave a very real sense of the direct impact of the right wheelchair at a very specific level, it also successfully managed to set this in a much wider global collaboration. A very powerful film indeed.”

The winner in the large-organisation category was Saferworld, whose video Towards peaceful and secure elections in Kenya showed how by working with the national police service, local and international NGOs and the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, Saferworld helped maintain peace and save lives during the 2013 elections in Kenya.

The judges said the film “powerfully illustrated how communities, local authorities and security providers can work together to solve joint problems once trust has been established”.

Ben Jackson, chief executive of Bond, said: “We chose collaboration for the theme of this year’s Bond International Development Awards because simple solutions from a single actor is rarely enough to build the lasting and transformative change needed. The quality of entries to the awards demonstrates the innovative ways organisations are working together.

“International development organisations are working with a range of partners from small, community-based groups to large companies.

Together they deliver real benefits to some of the world’s poorest people. These awards are an opportunity for the winners to share their collaborative ways of working.

"Others can learn from them and we can all celebrate work so often hidden from the public eye.”

Secretary of State Justine Greening said: “Whenever I visit disaster zones and development projects around the world I am humbled by the passion and courage of the humanitarian workers I meet and their determination to help people whose lives have been destroyed.

“The winners of Bond’s first ever international development awards showcase some of the amazing work being done by UK civil society organisations all over the world.”

The Bond International Development Awards 2014 are the first awards to celebrate the work of UK development organisations.

They are sponsored by Clements Worldwide.

Share Story: