Medellin will be recognized by the “Inter-American Award for Innovation in Effective Public Management”, an initiative of the Department for Effective Public Management (DGPE) of the OAS, whose main objective is to encourage, systematize and promote innovations in public management that are being carried out in the region; with the purpose of contributing to public institutions in the Americas to be increasingly transparent, effective and have mechanisms for citizen participation.
Two strategies of the Mayor’s Office of Medellin will be honored with honorable mentions: the “Suppliers School” in the Innovation in Open Government Category and “Being Able at Home” in the Innovation in Social Inclusion Category.
The certificates will be awarded this April 27 in Denver, Colorado (USA), where the OAS will organize the event “Summit of the Cities of the Americas / Plenary Session: Digital Tools: Improving City Revenues and Public Service Delivery”.
The Suppliers School strategy of the Mayor’s Office of Medellin receives this recognition among 17 innovative experiences pre-selected from a total of 48 applications from nine countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Dominican Republic.
“With the Suppliers School we have trained more than 12,000 suppliers interested in participating in the selection processes with the Mayor’s Office of Medellín. Since 2016 we went from five proponents per process to a record of ten proponents per selection process in this 2022,” expressed the Secretary of Supplies and Services, Karen Delgado Manjarrés.
Since 2020 and to date, the Suppliers School has trained these people in topics and regulatory concepts of public procurement, transparency, management of contracting platforms such as Secop I and Secop II, among others. These sessions have been conducted virtually and in person to offer greater opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs to contract with the State.
Through the virtual trainings, which were implemented as a result of the pandemic, the Suppliers School has expanded nationwide, reaching different regions of the country. Entities such as the Mayor’s Office of Cali and the Mayor’s Office of Curití (Santander), as well as the Éxito Group, among others, have connected to the trainings to learn about these topics, as well as about the District’s contracting model, which is a reference in the country.
“The Supplier School trainings have been very good, because they teach us how to submit bids to the District of Medellín and to all entities in general. They promote transparency because they allow us to participate in open competition with other participants in the calls for bids. We can see that there is transparency and that there is a way to win a bid”, said Julio Humberto Ruiz Vélez, one of the attendees at the Suppliers School.
Meanwhile, the Ser Capaz en Casa project was recognized for being a strategy that promotes access to rights, the elimination of barriers and the reduction of inequalities for people in vulnerable situations, in an inclusive and equitable manner, with the objective of positively transforming their living conditions.
During the four-year period, Ser Capaz en Casa has served more than 3,700 users. In addition, it promotes, from an educational and biopsychosocial approach, the strengthening of individual and family capacities through support from areas such as physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, nutrition, nursing, oral hygiene, dentistry, social work, psychology and pedagogy, reaching the users’ places of residence and bringing the institutional presence to them.
The care process carries out actions at the individual, family, community and social levels, through the identification of needs and the activation of routes to guarantee rights, contributing significantly to the quality of life and the elimination of barriers for people with disabilities, their families and caregivers, through interdisciplinary work and bringing the supply of services in the 16 districts and the five townships of the District.
“Ser Capaz en Casa has helped me a lot with their rehabilitation service. They have helped me to know my rights, to keep them in mind because I did not know them. They have taught me exercises with which I have improved my disability condition and the economic support I also receive thanks to them,” said Aicardo de Jesús Escobar Quintero, beneficiary of the Ser Capaz en Casa project of the Disability Team.
Applying for international awards is an effective strategy for positioning the city of Medellín in the global market as a model of successful public management. The Agency for Cooperation and Investment of Medellin and the Metropolitan Area (ACI Medellin) has used this strategy to highlight innovative policies and projects that have been implemented in the city and have had a positive impact on the quality of life of citizens.
The international awards allow Medellín to gain global recognition and improve its image abroad. In addition, the awards can serve as a tool to attract foreign investment, tourism, and other resources that contribute to the economic and social development of the city.
ACI Medellín has been very active in nominating the city for different international awards, such as the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in Singapore, the Global Smart Cities Award in Barcelona, and the Dubai International Best Practices Award, among others. These awards recognize cities that have implemented innovative policies and projects in areas such as sustainability, innovation, social inclusion, security, among others, and allow Medellin to stand out as a leading city in public management in Latin America and the world.