(Originally published on 01/23/2015)

Today four innovative civil society organisation (CSO) initiatives were granted the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Special Award for Social Innovation out of 222 applications at the China Social Innovation Award Ceremony 2014- 2015.

China Social Innovation Award, the largest national social innovation award in China, was co-organised this year by UNDP and China Center for Comparative Politics and Economics (CCCPE) of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau.

Twenty-five finalists presented their innovative initiatives and received comments and questions from a panel of national experts, including Ms. Yang Fang, UNDP Assistant Country Director of Strategic Planning and Disaster Management and Ms. Chen Yimei, Secretary-General of China Development Brief.

Ten teams were selected according to their project’s degree of innovation, significance, scalability, transparency, citizens’ participation and social impact. Four out of 10 teams were granted the UNDP Special Award with USD 5,000 and a year-long partnership with UNDP to implement and scale-up their projects.

The four UNDP Special Award winners were: 1) “Charitable House,” Cooperation Platform O2O (Online to Offline) for Public Innovation Project; 2) YiYun Disaster Relief Mapping project; 3) Project on Anti-Sexual Assault Education for National Primary and Secondary Schools and 4) “YiXinYiYi” Recycle Programme for Unused Items.

“I am honoured today to give the UNDP Special Award to four outstanding projects to reward their innovative ideas in addressing social issues that resonate with UNDP’s mission and vision – to create a more equal China where everyone enjoys the benefits of economic growth and sustainable development,” said Mr. Patrick Haverman, Deputy Country Director of UNDP China.

Representatives from the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MoCA), Gate Foundations, Intel, Goldman Sachs, Coca Cola and more than 140 civil society organizations, practitioners and experts joined the event. Started in 2010, this is the Third China Social Innovation Award organised by the China Center for Comparative Politics and Economics (CCCPE) which to date has received over 600 applications.