Six Nations, Shared Lessons: IDB Finalists Rethink Development Delivery Across Latin America

The IDB Group’s six award finalists show how learning from setbacks can improve digital inclusion, education, connectivity, infrastructure, Amazon livelihoods and energy delivery across Latin America and the Caribbean. Their wider value will depend on whether governments, development partners and investors turn these project-level lessons into adaptable policies, transparent financing and better implementation.

The IDB Group's selection of six finalists for its Superheroes of Development 2026 award is more than recognition of individual projects. It offers Latin America and the Caribbean a practical lesson in how development programmes can respond when original plans fail, operating conditions change or intended beneficiaries remain beyond reach.

The finalists from Paraguay, Belize, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Colombia cover digital inclusion, education, Amazon livelihoods, transport infrastructure, energy transition and rural connectivity. Together, they underline a central challenge for the region: development success depends not only on funding or ambitious targets, but also on whether institutions can identify weaknesses, learn quickly and adjust implementation.

Failure Emerges as a Tool for Better Policy

Paraguay's IDB Lab-supported project, "From 17% to 71%: How Failure Became a Model for Digital Inclusion of Vulnerable Youth," provides the clearest example of adaptation. Although the available information does not explain what the percentages measure, the project shows how a poor initial result prompted a rethink rather than the abandonment of its objective.

This matters in a region where vulnerable young people frequently encounter overlapping barriers to education, employment and technology. Digital training may be available, but participation can remain low because of unaffordable internet access, unsuitable course design, limited devices or weak connections with employers.

For policymakers, Paraguay's experience supports a shift from rigid programme administration towards evidence-based adjustment. Governments should be able to redesign outreach, training or eligibility rules when monitoring shows that an intervention is not reaching its target population. Development partners can support this approach through flexible financing, stronger feedback systems and evaluations conducted early enough to influence delivery.

Belize's finalist also emerged from disruption. Its experience with online education during the pandemic reportedly expanded access for teachers and helped narrow educational gaps between boys and girls. The case suggests that emergency measures can become lasting public-service tools if governments preserve the systems, skills and content created during a crisis.

Connectivity Must Translate into Opportunity

Colombia's IDB Invest-backed project brought first-time 4G connectivity to more than 1,200 rural towns. For previously underserved communities, mobile coverage can expand access to digital payments, education, telemedicine, government services and market information. Businesses may also gain new customers, suppliers and workers.

But coverage figures alone do not demonstrate meaningful inclusion. Rural households may still be excluded when smartphones, data plans or electricity are unaffordable. Weak digital literacy and unreliable network quality can further limit the economic and social benefits.

The project therefore carries a wider lesson for regional governments: connectivity policy must measure usage, affordability and service quality alongside geographic coverage. Telecommunications companies and investors may find opportunities in underserved markets, but sustainable expansion will require commercially realistic models, predictable regulation and targeted public support where low population density weakens returns.

Costa Rica's Paquera Port Ferry Terminal project highlights a similar gap between building infrastructure and creating development value. Improved ferry facilities can support tourism, regional trade, employment and access to services in Puntarenas Canton. However, these benefits depend on reliable operations, affordable transport, maintenance and connections with surrounding road and logistics networks.

Amazon Livelihoods and Energy Reveal Difficult Trade-offs

Bolivia's Pando Verde project shows why programmes in the Amazon need flexibility. Environmental conditions, community priorities and market demand can change during implementation, making rigid project plans poorly suited to complex forest economies.

Adaptive management can help governments and development institutions protect ecosystems while supporting local value chains. It can also open opportunities for businesses involved in sustainable agriculture, processing, logistics and traceable products. Yet commercial expansion must not weaken environmental safeguards or exclude Indigenous and local communities from decisions and benefits.

El Salvador's large-scale liquefied natural gas power project, supported by IDB Invest, introduces a more contested development question. Gas-fired generation may strengthen electricity reliability and potentially replace more polluting fuels, depending on the existing energy mix. At the same time, it can increase exposure to imported fuel prices, foreign-exchange pressures and long-term fossil-fuel infrastructure.

The project illustrates the difficult choices facing Latin American and Caribbean governments. Energy systems must remain affordable and dependable while moving towards lower emissions. Policymakers will need to assess reliability, climate commitments, fiscal exposure and future renewable-energy expansion together rather than treating them as separate objectives.

Private investors must also consider fuel availability, regulatory stability, currency risk and the possibility that tighter climate policies could reduce the commercial life of carbon-intensive assets.

The Real Prize Is Knowledge That Travels

The six finalist teams are expected to present their experiences in Washington on October 6 before senior IDB Group leaders, with three projects ultimately chosen as winners. The projects will compete in separate categories covering IDB and IDB Lab initiatives and eligible IDB Invest operations.

However, the ceremony will not determine the programme's development value. The real test is whether lessons from the finalists influence future policies, financing decisions and project supervision across the region.

Award narratives can sometimes simplify difficult experiences by emphasizing recovery while giving less attention to procurement problems, political constraints or unsuccessful interventions. Replication also requires caution. A model that succeeds in Paraguay may not transfer unchanged to a country with different institutions, geography or fiscal capacity.

The IDB Group can increase the initiative's value by publishing evidence on what went wrong, which adjustments were introduced, what they cost and whether improvements lasted. Governments can use that knowledge to strengthen project design and public accountability, while international partners can build more realistic risks and feedback mechanisms into financing.

For communities and civil society, transparent documentation would provide a basis for assessing whether adaptation genuinely responded to local needs. For private stakeholders, it would reveal both investment opportunities and implementation risks.

The central message from the finalists is that development projects should not be judged only by their final score. Their broader contribution may lie in making failure visible, turning adaptation into institutional practice and ensuring that hard-won lessons travel across Latin America and the Caribbean.