Rato Bangala Foundation is a non-governmental organization that provides training programmes to primary and some secondary school teachers. It works closely with the Bank Street College of Education in New York, and Kathmandu University in Nepal, operating a tripartite academic Primary Teacher Training Programme. Founded in 2002, the Foundation cooperates with Nepal’s Social Welfare Council.

Established in 2003, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Schools Enrichment Centre (AIMSSEC) works to extend educational opportunities to disadvantaged communities in South Africa, introduce new skills to the teaching of mathematics and raise standards. To date, AIMSSEC has provided courses to 800 teachers from all over South Africa.

Venezuela’s Banco del Libro, first established as an exchange centre for used books in 1960, is devoted to the promotion of reading and children’s literature in Latin America. It sets up school and public libraries and has created a library network and an evaluation programme to select and recommend children’s books.

The US$270,000 Prize will be divided between the three organizations. Set up in 2009 with funding from Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum of Dubai, the Prize is awarded every two years to can<a name="_GoBack"></a>didates who have shown outstanding achievement in enhancing the performance and effectiveness of teachers in developing countries or within marginalized or disadvantaged communities from the wider global context.