The Gates Award for Global Health is an international award established by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and given out annually to organizations which have made “a major and lasting contribution to the field of global health.” Specifically, “organizations which have developed processes for improving health, especially in resource poor settings, with measurable results” will be rewarded.
Only nominations are accepted for the Award. No self-nominations will be accepted. NGOs, charitable institutions and other types of entities, including private companies can be nominated for their work. Nominated organizations can be located in any country, but they need to be working towards improving the health and lives of the people and should be in operation for a minimum of ten years. They should have good financial standing and submit documentation on their nonprofit status (in case of NGOs) in addition to other details, as requested.
The Award carries “a distinctive award sculpture and a prize amount of one million dollars.” The Award will be given to the winning organization at the special Awards Ceremony organized during the Global Health Council’s Annual International Conference to be held from 14-18 June 2010.
Nominators should possess direct knowledge about the nominated organization, but they should not be its employees or board members or be related to those running it. They can use the following criteria to make the nomination:
- Extraordinary contributions toward progress in the knowledge and practice of health in low-income societies, with a substantial and sustainable impact on the principal issues that contribute to global health.
- An established record of achievement.
- Innovation in program design.
- Organizational capacity; i.e. evidence of financial and program stability.
- Collaboration with others.
- Evidence that contributions have had significant influence or have been adopted across geographic and organizational boundaries.
The last date to nominate for this $1 million Award is 31 October 2009. Nominations have to be made online. For more information, visit this link.
