Carter Centre Project on Eliminating River Blindness in Nigeria Makes Shortlist for MacArthur $100m Grant

Eight bold solutions to critical social problems were recently named semi-finalists in 100&Change, a global competition for a single $100 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The proposals address challenges ranging from eliminating needless blindness to educating children displaced by conflict, in places from Nigeria to Nepal to the United States.

“These eight ambitious proposals exemplify the passion, range, and creativity of the hundreds of applications,” said MacArthur President Julia Stasch. “We hope that the competition inspires individuals and organisations to be bold and think big, because solutions are possible.”

The eight proposals include Catholic Relief Services: Changing how society cares for children in orphanages; Himalayan Cataract: Eliminating needless blindness in Nepal, Ethiopia, and Ghana; Human Diagnosis Project: Providing virtual access to specialist medical care for underserved U.S. patients; HarvestPlus: Eliminating hidden hunger in Africa by fortifying staple crops, and The Carter Center: Eliminating river blindness in Nigeria.

Others include Internet Archive: Providing libraries and learners free digital access to four million books; Sesame Workshop and International Rescue Committee: Educating children displaced by conflict and persecution, and Rice University: Improving newborn survival in Africa.

According to a release issued by MacArthur, “100&Change is a unique competition for organisations worldwide to submit proposals promising real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time in any field or any location. There was robust participation: 7,069 competition registrants submitted 1,904 proposals.