The Graduate Institute is pleased to announce the launch of an international competition for graduate students entitled “Advancing Development Goals” whose objective is to stimulate the debate about the future of the global development agenda. We owe both the initiative and the funding to Mr Jenö C.A. Staehelin, former Swiss Ambassador to the United Nations in New York and a longtime friend of the Graduate Institute. We express him our gratitude for his generous support and our sincere appreciation for his dedication to fostering innovative ideas in the field of development.

The contest calls upon teams of three to five Master students from all over the world to submit a proposal that creatively addresses a key challenge in international development. A jury chaired by Mr Staehelin and composed of high level persons will select three papers and invite the student teams to Geneva for a one-day defense of their proposal. The winning project will receive a monetary prize of CHF 10’000. The second prize will be CHF 5’000 and the third prize CHF 2’500.
    
The topic selected for the 2014 challenge is “Empowering Women for Development,” with a focus on political, social and economic inclusion. Beyond rigorous analysis of a relevant problem area or issue at stake, submissions should bring forward innovative proposals to effect change. They must be written in English and must not exceed 8’000 words (all included).

The deadline for submitting proposals is end of April, the three short-listed teams will be announced end of May and the oral defence in Geneva take place in the Fall, with a ceremony for the award of the Jenö Staehelin Advancing Development Goals Prizes.

The project is led at the Graduate Institute by Professor Gilles Carbonnier in collaboration with Professors Martina Viarengo and Ravinder Bhavnani.

Find out more about the Competition.

Mr Jenö Staehelin has a distinguished career in the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among other functions he was Assistant to the State Secretary from 1987 to 1993, in charge of European and North American Affairs, Ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1997 and to the United Nations in New York from 1997 to 2004.

Mr Staehelin was a member of the Foundation Board of the Graduate Institute. He serves as a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Kofi Annan Foundation and, until recently,  the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Geneva.  He holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Bern and a LL.M from Harvard Law School (he was a member of the Dean's Advisory Board and still is a member of HLS' Visiting Committee).