World Education Among Top Proposals for MacArthur $100 Million Grant

High-scoring 100&Change applications featured in Bold Solutions Network

Boston, MA February 19, 2020 — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today unveiled that World Education’s Bantwana Initiative, in partnership with World Vision, is one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as a Top 100 in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world’s most critical social challenges.

World Education/Bantwana Initiative, in partnership with World Vision, has proposed an intervention to retain girls in school and actively address the pervasiveness of gender-based violence (GBV), one of the key drivers of school drop-out for girls.

Fifty million school-age girls are out of school in Africa, and 50% of women over 14 experience GBV in sub-Saharan Africa. From school drop-out to forced sexual encounters, Africa’s girls are straining under the burdens of poverty and gender inequities. The Bantwana Initiative and World Vision team’s program is designed to tackle these issues and help governments improve their education systems so that girls are retained in school to complete their education.

World Education/Bantwana Initiative and World Vision’s solution is the national scaling of early warning systems in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, and Rwanda to retain 1 million+ girls in school, and to identify victims of abuse and link them to critical services. Early warning systems use the predictors of drop out (attendance, behavior, and course performance) to identify and assist at-risk adolescents well in advance of drop out, and provide school and community responses to keep them in school. The Bantwana/World Vision model also screens for GBV to identify abuse victims and link them to needed services. The intervention will also empower communities to confront gender-restrictive norms using civic outreach and mass media.

Together, our proposed solutions will significantly reduce gender-based violence, empower adolescent girls to stay in school, and build a foundation of opportunity for generations of girls to come.

The Top 100

The MacArthur Top 100 represents the top 21 percent of competition submissions. The proposals were rigorously vetted, undergoing MacArthur’s initial administrative review, a Peer-to-Peer review, an evaluation by an external panel of judges, and a technical review by specialists whose expertise was matched to the project. MacArthur’s Board of Directors will select up to 10 finalists from these high-scoring proposals this spring.

“We are thrilled to be short-listed for the MacArthur 100&Change award,” commented Gill Garb, World Education/Bantwana Initiative Vice President. “While much has been invested to improve education for girls, we do not see sustained progress at scale. Our EWS will help identify and support at risk adolescent girls to stay in school, while also working to disrupt the cycles of violence perpetuated by harmful gender norms.”

Bold Solutions Network Launches

“MacArthur seeks to generate increased recognition, exposure, and support for the high-impact ideas designated as the Top 100,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change and MacArthur Managing Director, 100&Change. The Bold Solutions Network launched today features World Education and World Vision’s solution as one of the Top 100 from 100&Change. The searchable online collection of submissions contains a project overview, 90-second video, and two-page factsheet for each proposal.

The Bold Solutions Network was designed to provide an innovative approach to identifying the most effective, enduring solutions aligned with donors’ philanthropic goals and to help top applicants gain visibility and funding from a wide array of funders. Organizations that are part of the network will have continued access to a variety of technical support and learning opportunities focused on strengthening their proposals and increasing the impact of their work. The Bold Solutions Network will show-case the highest-rated proposals that emerge from the competitions Lever for Change.

More About 100&Change

100&Change is a distinctive competition that is open to organizations and collaborations working in any field, anywhere in the world. Proposals must identify a problem and offer a solution that promises significant and durable change.

The second round of the competition had a promising start: 3,690 competition registrants submitted 755 proposals. Of those, 475 passed an initial administrative review.

100&Change was designed to be fair, open, and transparent. The identity of the judges and the methodology used to assess initial proposals are public. Applicants received comments and feedback from the peers, judges, and technical reviewers. Key issues in the competition are discussed in a blog on MacArthur’s website.

Learn more about World Vision/World Education submission at the Levers for Change website