By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. May 5, 2016: Several cities in Latin American and Caribbean cities are hoping to win the 2016 Mayors Challenge and walk away with the grand prize of USD 5 million.
Bloomberg Philanthropies, which runs the competition, announced Wednesday that it had received entries from 290 cities across Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Caribbean cities submitting applications are:
Jamaica
Kingston
Montego Bay
Portmore
Spanish Town
Haiti
Cap-Haitien
Les Cayes
Jean Rabel
Jeremie
Petite Riviere
Dominican Republic
La Romana
Los Alcarrizos
S.F. de Puerto
Plata
S.F. de Marcoris
Applications came from 80 Brazilian cities and 59 Mexican cities – the largest number of cities that submitted applications. They include:
Argentina
Buenos Aires
Bolivia
La Paz
Brazil
Brasilia
Mexico
Mexico City
Chile
Santiago
Colombia
Bogota
Costa Rica
San Jose
Ecuador
Quito
Guatemala
Guatemala City
Honduras
Comayagua
Panama
Panama
Paraguay
Asuncion
Peru
Lima
Uruguay
Montevideo
Venezuela
Caracas
“Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean are some of the most innovative in the world, and they are proving it with their entries in our latest Mayors Challenge. The hundreds of proposals present exciting new ways to tackle problems across the region, and they have the potential to have a big impact on the lives of millions of people,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term Mayor of New York City.
Applicants for the 2016 Mayors Challenge proposed innovative solutions to a wide range of urban challenges including: leveraging technology and citizen engagement to improve government performance; putting the emphasis on public awareness initiatives, citizen participation and digital solutions to prepare for and address natural disasters; boosting entrepreneurship and digital learning to improve education; promoting the inclusion of vulnerable populations through job creation, better use of public spaces and technology and improving public health through wide-ranging citizen engagement strategies.
The 290 Mayors Challenge applicants represent over 172 million citizens in 19 countries across the region. Modeled on successful competitions in the United States and Europe, the 2016 Mayors Challenge will award a US $5 million USD grand prize and four $1 million awards to four other cities that generate the most powerful and transferable ideas.
To learn more about the Mayors Challenge, visit mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org and @BloombergCities on Twitter and Instagram.
