Six Development Projects Turning Challenges Into Solutions in Latin America and Caribbean

Two finalists demonstrate how technology can create wider opportunities when projects respond closely to the needs of the people they serve.

The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) has selected six finalists for its Superheroes of Development 2026 award, bringing attention to teams across Latin America and the Caribbean that have turned difficult implementation challenges into practical lessons with the potential to shape future development projects. The finalists come from Paraguay, Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Colombia, covering digital inclusion, education, Amazon resilience, transport infrastructure, energy transition and rural connectivity, while showing how development work can become more effective when teams learn from setbacks, adapt their methods and stay focused on the people their projects are designed to serve.

Rather than recognizing projects only for their final results, Superheroes of Development puts the spotlight on the experiences behind those results, including obstacles encountered along the way, decisions that changed the direction of a project and lessons that could help other teams avoid similar problems. IDB Group specialists selected the six finalists because their experiences offer ideas that can be replicated or adapted across the region, where communities often face overlapping challenges involving access to technology, education, infrastructure, economic opportunity and reliable public services.

Digital Inclusion and Education Show How Projects Can Adapt

Two finalists demonstrate how technology can create wider opportunities when projects respond closely to the needs of the people they serve. Paraguay's "From 17% to 71%: How Failure Became a Model for Digital Inclusion of Vulnerable Youth," supported by IDB Lab, shows how an initial setback became an opportunity to rethink an approach and build a stronger model for connecting vulnerable young people with digital opportunities.

Belize's finalist project focuses on the rapid shift to online teaching during the pandemic, an experience that ultimately reached more teachers while helping narrow educational gaps between boys and girls. Colombia brings another connectivity story through an IDB Invest-backed project that delivered first-time 4G access to more than 1,200 rural towns, giving communities that had previously lacked modern mobile connectivity greater access to digital services and opportunities.

From Amazon Communities to Transport and Clean Energy

Bolivia's Pando Verde project brings the focus to the Amazon, where adaptive management and innovation have been used to strengthen the resilience of local value chains. The experience reflects the reality that projects operating in environmentally sensitive and economically complex areas need room to respond to changing conditions rather than relying on rigid plans that may no longer match what communities face on the ground.

Costa Rica's finalist centers on the expansion and improvement of the Paquera Port Ferry Terminal in Puntarenas Canton, showing how transport infrastructure can support mobility and regional connections when implementation challenges are addressed carefully. El Salvador's entry, supported by IDB Invest, highlights the transformation of the country's energy system through a large-scale liquefied natural gas power project, adding an energy-sector perspective to a finalist group shaped by very different development needs.

A World Cup-Inspired Celebration of Development Teams

With 2026 also being a World Cup year, the IDB Group has brought the spirit of soccer into this edition of Superheroes of Development, presenting successful development as a team effort in which preparation, adaptability and lessons from difficult moments can be just as important as the final score. The six finalist teams will present their experiences in Washington on October 6 before a panel of senior IDB Group leaders, with former Argentine soccer player Javier Zanetti attending the ceremony.

The projects will compete across two categories. One covers IDB and IDB Lab initiatives that are still underway or were completed after January 2016, while the other covers IDB Invest projects that already have an Expanded Supervision Report or are in the process of obtaining one.

Three projects will ultimately be selected as winners, yet the wider value of the program reaches beyond the awards themselves. Lessons from the winning experiences will be shared across the region so future teams can use what worked, understand what went wrong and design projects with a clearer picture of the challenges they may encounter, turning individual experiences into practical knowledge that can improve development initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean.