The funds were limited, the need was overwhelming and the pressure was on. It was the climax of the Global Philanthropy Forum's Conference on Borderless Giving, and a jury of nine philanthropists faced the tough prospect of dividing $100,000 among 16 of the world's leading community-based development projects.

Before a crowd of 200 people, the jury split the funds evenly among five of the contestants. The five projects addressed issues including providing safe drinking water for rural communities, empowering Afghan women, rescuing Nepalese girls from bonded labor, preventing mothers' deaths in childbirth, and building sustainable micro-clinics.

The Marketplace marked the final stage of a two-month, $100,000 competition. After receiving over 150 Marketplace nominations in late 2004, GlobalGiving called on the general public to whittle a catalog of 112 projects down to 16 finalists through an innovative online rating system. Within a week, individuals rated projects more than 200,000 times; those projects with the highest average rating were selected to participate in the Marketplace.

Safe Drinking Water for Rural Communities will install safe drinking water systems in 10 villages thoughout India as a pilot for model replication worldwide. Empowering and Educating Afghan Women will provide education, skills training and reproductive health services for women throughout Afghanistan. Rescuing Young Girls from Bonded Labor in Nepal enables parents to keep their daughters at home, while affording families sustainable ways of preventing bonded labor.

Preventing Mother's Deaths in Childbirth makes Misoprostal, a drug that stops postpartum hemorrhaging, available to midwives in developing countries. Sustainable Rural Micro-clinics improves Kenyans' access to essential drugs, thereby reducing needless death and disease.

Congratulations and thank you to all the participants in the 2005 Marketplace. Based upon the success of this inaugural event, we anticipate that this bold experiment in giving will continue well into the future!

Resources

• Support the Finalists from the 2005 Marketplace
   
• Read more about the Marketplace in the San Jose Mercury News

The Tech Museum Awards, an initiative sponsored by Applied Materials, Inc., is currently seeking nominations for its 2005 awards program. The awards will honor 25 Laureates - innovators - from around the world who use technology to address issues in their communities and the world at large.

Cash prizes of $50,000 will be awarded to one Laureate in each of the following categories: Education, Equality, Environment, Economic Development, and Health. Laureates' projects are featured on GlobalGiving, enabling them to raise additional funds from the general public.

One of last year's Laureates, Ashok Gadgil, is the inventor of UVWaterworks, a device that disinfects drinking water at a cost of $1.50 per person per year. Since receiving the award, Gadgil has worked to provide safe drinking water to tsunami-devastated regions in India and Sri Lanka, and has raised over $200,000 for his projects through GlobalGiving. Dr. Gadgil's project, Safe drinking water in rural communities, is also a 2005 Marketplace award recipient.

If you or someone you know is seeking to make a difference through technology, submit a nomination today!

Resources

• Click here to submit a nomination online
   
• Give now to Tech Awards projects featured on GlobalGiving
   

Around the world, March 8 will be commemorated as International Women's Day. This year in particular is noteworthy as it marks the ten-year review of the Beijing Conference and Platform for Action, at which the world acknowledged that gender equality was critical to the development and peace of every nation.

How far have women come? No doubt significant progress has been made over the last decade. Life expectancy has increased. More girls than ever before are able to take advantage of primary education. Many more women are earning incomes.

However, new challenges have emerged: the trafficking of women and children as well as increased targeting of women and children in armed conflicts. Further, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS - especially amongst young women - continues to grow.

But as Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General pointed out in his remarks honoring International Women's Day, the challenges facing women are not problems without solutions. And through the efforts of countless social entrepreneurs across the globe, transformative change is taking place every day. For example, in Nepal, social entrepreneur Sudha Chalise is providing training and capital for women's savings and credit groups; increasing accessibility of pre-natal healthcare and assistance at birth; and improving couples access to family planning and reproductive health services.

On International Women's Day, we recognize those whose economic, political, and social efforts and achievements are benefiting both current and future generations of women. Through GlobalGiving, you can support the work of entrepreneurs such as Sudha Chalise, whose efforts to help low caste women are making a real difference in improving the status of marginalized and poor women in Nepal.

Resources

• Give now to grassroots projects supporting gender equality and empowerment
   
• Learn more about International Women's Day