Background
The International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) is committed to finding new and innovative solutions to the problems impacting people with epilepsy and their families world-wide. As part of this commitment, IBE is providing a limited amount of financial support to IBE member organizations on a competitive basis for initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life for people with epilepsy in developing nations.
Definition of a Promising Strategy
A Promising Strategy is one that has the potential to foster effective and innovative public health practice with regard to epilepsy. Ideally, a Promising Strategy contains many of the following:
- Is based on measurable, realistic, and time specific objectives
- Is need-based and data-driven
- Is innovative and represents the development of new solutions to common problems impacting people with epilepsy and their families
- Establishes a strategy that makes a difference in improving accessibility to accurate, timely, necessary and culturally appropriate information and/or services
- Demonstrates a sustainable effect in the community where it is being implemented
- Has the potential for replication of positive results if the program is implemented in a similar environment with a similar target population as its original pilot demonstration
- Is a strategy that can be used to generate policies and initiatives to address systems issues and common problems impacting people with epilepsy and their families
- Is likely to be implemented in collaboration with other strategic partners
- Has the support of key leaders within the IBE member organization and broad epilepsy community
- Has a mechanism to evaluate results and get feedback to continue to improve the program.
The IBE Promising Strategies Program is now 6 years old and is one of the most successful and innovative of all IBE’s initiatives. Set up in 2006, to date 70 projects in 37 countries have received a total of US$300,000 in support.
More than fifty applications were received following the latest call for letters of intent for funding in 2012. The applications were reviewed by the relevant Regional Executive Committee, with their recommendations presented to the International Executive Committee.
A total of 20 new projects, in 19 countries, were then selected by the International Executive Committee for funding this year.
IBE would like to thank all those member organizations who have generously donated to the IBE Solidarity Fund; a portion of this fund is also being used to finance the program. If your organization would like to donate to the Solidarity Fund or directly to the Promising Strategies Program please contact the IBE Office. All donations, however small, are gratefully received.
Click here to download the Promising Strategies 2012 Announcement.
Haga clic aquí para descargar el Folleto Estrategias Promisoras 2012 (Spanish version).