Prix Pralong & Cadot

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Prix Christophe Pralong & Prix Olivier Cadot - Call for projects

Would you like to help solve development problems in the world? Propose your humanitarian project and benefit from the financial support of the Prix Christophe Pralong and the Prix Olivier Cadot.

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What is the call for projects?

The Prix Christophe Pralong and the Prix Olivier Cadot aim to encourage students to dedicate themselves to development issues in the world by helping them to carry out a project in an emerging country.

The Prix Pralong was founded in 2007 by Ms Sandra Pralong to honour the memory of her husband Christophe, HEC alumni and former President of the HEC Students' Committee (1978-80). It is awarded by the Christophe Pralong Association.

To support the work of the association and to honour the memory of Professor Olivier Cadot, Professor of International Economics and Development (1999-2019), HEC Lausanne and the International Relations Office (SRI) of the University of Lausanne have created in 2021 a second prize to be awarded under the name of the Prix Olivier Cadot.

Endowed with an annual amount of maximum CHF 10,000 each, these prizes are intended to help a student or a group of maximum 3 students to carry out a social, humanitarian, entrepreneurial or academic project in an emerging country. The country must be on the list of Official Development Assistance (ODA) recipients established by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD . The prize money is intended to cover all or part of the travel costs and one to two months' stay in the country.

Each project should be well defined in terms of objectives, modalities, follow-up and viability. Each proposal must also show what meaning the project has for the student, for the target populations and for the knowledge of development problems on the ground. One of the key conditions is that a local stay is necessary to carry out the project. The prize is open without discrimination to bachelor, master and doctoral students from the following universities: UNIL, EPFL, UNIGE, IHEID, UNIFR and UNINE.

Selection and awarding of the prize

Projects are evaluated based on the following criteria: relevance and feasibility of the project in relation to the budget and other constraints, definition of objectives and modalities, sustainability of the desired results and the need for a stay in the country concerned.

Examples of projects

To date, the Prix Pralong has financed projects such as a cereal mill for a village school in Niger, a medicinal plant processing plant in Vietnam, an aid programme in Madagascar, a fundraising campaign for a dispensary, a feasibility study for micro-irrigation in Niger and a sewing workshop for ready-to-wear clothes for export in Ivory Coast.

At the bottom of the page you will find the projects of the latest laureates.

Application

You can send your applications until 15 january 2024!
The project must take place in the summer of 2024 in the country concerned.

Requirements

The Prix Pralong is open to students∙e∙s in bachelor, master or doctoral studies from all faculties of the University of Lausanne (UNIL), as well as to students∙e∙s from the following universities: EPFL, UNIGE, IHEID, UNIFR and UNINE. At the time of submission, the candidate must therefore be enrolled at a university in French-speaking Switzerland.

Concerning the Prix Cadot, the student, or at least one student in the case of a group, must be registered at UNIL at the time of submission of the project. A UNIL-registered project leader will be appointed from among the members of the group. All candidates registered at UNIL will be considered for the Prix Pralong and the Prix Cadot. All candidates registered outside UNIL will be considered for the Prix Pralong only.

Candidates will be evaluated based on a written submission that they will have proposed before the deadline, according to the modalities explained in the guide for written submission. The selection decision is not subject to appeal.

Note: The participation of the Prize (maximum amount of 10,000.-) in the financing of the project cannot exceed 80% of the total budget. The remaining 20% comes from funds outside the Prize, and is found by the student himself.

Application process

Documents to be included in your application:

The registration form
The defined budget
A detailed description of the project (context, motivation, commitment, follow-up and sustainability)
A certificate of registration from your university
A CV (in case of a group, one CV per person)
A letter of confirmation from the local partner on site proving your participation in the project
If applicable, an official document from the association carrying the project in Switzerland supporting your participation
For applicants registered at UNIL only: La déclaration d'engagement
Other relevant documents

The description of the project can be in French or English, depending on the student's choice.

An explanatory document is available to fill in the budget and the detailed description.

The complete file must be sent in electronic format to madeleine.linard@unil.ch.

Documents

Formulaire inscription en français (87 Ko)

Document explicatif en français (202 Ko)

Exemple budget en français (165 Ko)

Registration form in English (87 Ko)

Explanatory document in English (201 Ko)

Example budget in English (169 Ko)

La déclaration d'engagement (64 Ko)

2023

Complex-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Urban Egypt : Cultural Adaptation and Pilot Testing of an Evidence-Based Treatment Manual.

Nadine Hosny, Cadot Prize laureate, doctoral student in psychology at UNIL in SSP

The project aims to study the cultural and structural aspects related to post-traumatic stress disorder in urban areas of Egypt, where the prevalence of different forms of violence is high.

The project is part of a larger research project that aims to improve the care of people who have been exposed to repeated forms of violence.

Another study is underway, with the same research objectives but looking at this disorder among the refugee population in Switzerland. Running the project in parallel in Egypt and Switzerland will allow two different perspectives on the same topic in two different contexts.

Setting up of rotovators for rent, including transport, to farmers of small parcels.

Fabien Dierckx, Pralong Prize laureate, Master's degree in tourism studies at UNIL in FGSE

The aim of the project is to set up a system of rotovator rental to prepare the soil before planting food crops, i.e. less than one hectare. The target audience is farmers working on small plots. These plots are often difficult to access, which is why the rotovator is a good tool and must therefore be easily transportable.

The project is based on an observation taking into account several aspects:

Soil preparation is a physically demanding and even traumatic activity for which there is no equipment available in Togo or in the rest of West Africa.
The purchase of a machine, in this case a rotovator, is often a major investment, which is all the more difficult if it is not available on the territory.
The means necessary for maintenance are not always available, as is the depreciation required to renew the machine.

The rotovator rental project is based on three pillars:

Providing material support for the start-up of an activity
Generating income
Seeking the involvement of stakeholders in the area concerned

Construction of a borehole equipped with a human-powered pump for a community without access to drinking water in the Mfekout district of Njimom.

Idrissou Mounpe Chare, Pralong Prize laureate, PhD student in Social Sciences in SSP

Access to drinking water and sanitation is a daily challenge for countries in the South, including Cameroon. Household access to drinking water is only 31%, with strong disparities between urban (50.7%) and rural (6.1%) areas.

This is why this project consists of building a human-powered borehole in a rural commune in Cameroon, namely Njimom. Njimom is not connected to the water distribution network. The water quality is poor because the available sources are not drinkable. The inhabitants must therefore walk long distances to access water sources whose quality is not always guaranteed, which has many negative consequences for their health.

This project therefore responds to a need to improve the living conditions of poor populations by providing access to an essential basic product, water. This project will also improve hygiene and sanitation among the beneficiary populations for whom the scarcity of water limits hygiene measures.

2022

KaribuPads

Aurélie Monnier & Loïc Zen-Ruffinen, Pralong Prize - 2nd year HEC Valais & 3rd year Bachelor in Biology UNIL

In Tanzania, most young women in rural areas do not have the means to buy sanitary protection during their menstruation. This impacts their education (shame to go to school), their health (diseases, vaginal infections) and their daily life (taboo, fear of the first period, disturbances).

The kits consist of a kit, 4 cotton towels and 4 small waterproof bags.

30 young people and 3 teachers trained in sewing, 14 young women trained in basic entrepreneurship - financial independence
3'000 young women in possession of hygienic and durable protection - improved daily life
3'000 young people made aware of sexuality and menstruation - self-awareness and body awareness
15 people in the project team have acquired knowledge (project management, training, marketing, finance, etc.)
4 out of 120 planned distributions have already taken place.
About 150 girls have been reached.

Next targets: March 2023 - production and distribution; June 2023 - first evaluation

Research fieldwork in Egypt on female circumcision

Yasmina Lotfi, Prix Cadot - 3rd year PhD student

Within the framework of the doctoral thesis entitled: "Construction of the body and sexuality in a Western and non-Western context in the digital age: experiences of excised women and the role of health professionals" under the supervision of Prof. Maria del Rio Carral

Female genital mutilation can have many consequences: physical, psychological and sexual.

Excision is a practice carried out in order to correspond to certain physical, sexual and identity representations of women. It affects 200,000,000 women worldwide and 22,000 women in Switzerland.

In Egypt, 91.1% of the female population is circumcised because it is part of the social identity of Egyptian women.

2019

Preventing conflict by empowering women

Giulia Barbos, Pralong Award - Master in International Affairs, The Graduate Institute of Geneva

The main objective of the project is to address the root causes of insecurity in the Salabani region of Kenya. It aims to empower a group of 30 women from the war-torn pastoralist community of the Ilchamus ethnic tribe by building a community farm and garden to introduce more sustainable livelihoods, encourage cooperation, prevent further conflict and promote peace in the area.

Demonstration of honey extraction and tree seedling planting

To address these issues, this project brought together four groups of women from different ethnic communities, who are usually in conflict with each other. Several activities were offered to the different members of these groups (agricultural support, dairy goats, honey production, etc.) in order to share experiences and challenges faced by the members, as well as to learn from each other.

2018

Sunglasses for the Afars of Ethiopia

Roxane Dumont, Pralong Prize - 3rd year Bachelor, HEC Lausanne - UNIL

The project consists of distributing 800 pairs of recycled sunglasses to Afars working in the salt mines of Lake Assale in Ethiopia. The working conditions of these miners are extremely difficult and the stifling heat of this region, as well as the reflection of sunlight on the salt, destroy their vision. There is a demand on their part to protect themselves from this light and prevent long-term eye damage or even total loss of sight. Providing them with sunglasses to meet this need would be a first step towards improving the living conditions of these people forgotten by the rest of the world

Distribution of glasses to AFARS.

In the end, more than 1,000 pairs of cerjo sunglasses made the trip to Ethiopia as part of the humanitarian project. Since then, they have been protecting the salt miners and their families in the Afar region on a daily basis. Training on the prevention of eye injuries as well as information on the need to wear glasses when working on salt sites was also provided by village leaders.

2017

The Tecpán operation

Sofie Folkesson, Pralong Prize - Master in Mechanical Engineering, EPFL

The aim of the project is to build a school for Mayan children from plastic bottles. The construction will involve all age groups in the village of Tecpán. The inhabitants will help to collect 5 tons of plastic rubbish from nature and, after cleaning the whole bottles, will fill them with other plastic rubbish. These "stuffed" bottles are called eco-bricks and will form the insulation of the school's walls.

Bricks made from recycled bottles.

75% of Mayans live in poverty and 54% of young people between the ages of 5 and 19 have not finished primary school and only one in four girls still goes to school at 16. The reason why the project proposes to build the school from waste is to get young people used to protecting the environment and understanding the effect of waste on nature. In addition, as the Mayan people - especially women - have been oppressed for a long time, we have chosen to build a school dedicated to them.

Gardens on the roof

Geneux Estelle & Fouda Ramy, Pralong Prize - 3rd year Bachelor, HEC Lausanne - UNIL

The project aims to build vegetable gardens on the roofs of Cairo because every building has an accessible roof and can be used in an intelligent way. People will be able to grow their own vegetables to meet their needs. This project is also a way for housewives to keep themselves busy in a productive way. Finally, Cairo will become a little greener thanks to this project.

Rooftop agriculture in Cairo.

The unfavourable economic situation and huge inflation also affect the Egyptian middle class. Basic needs, such as decent food, are becoming a problem for many people. Women especially rarely have work outside the home. Installing rooftop gardens on buildings will give them the opportunity to contribute effectively to family needs while bringing them closer to nature.

2016

Resilience: seeds for growth in Casiguran

Jerome Patrick Cruz & Ace Paolo Dela Cruz, Pralong Prize - Master in Development Studies, IHEID

The project provides seedlings and helps the beneficiaries to build a market where farmers, fishermen and artisans can sell their products. The construction of the market is particularly important as it allows the sellers to eliminate middlemen, thereby increasing their income.

Seeds to recover crops after typhoons and community market to sell products.

Casiguran is one of the most storm-affected cities in the entire Philippines and is still recovering from the devastation caused by Typhoons Utor (in 2013) and Koppu (in 2015). By supporting the long-term recovery of Casiguran's communities after these two unprecedented disasters, which destroyed nearly 100% of the municipality's infrastructure, we are providing the people with essential support to achieve sustainable livelihoods.

2015

Computers for Casamance

Yannis Mesquida, Pralong Prize - Assistant - PhD student, HEC Lausanne - UNIL

Contribute to reducing the flagrant digital under-equipment between Africa, and more particularly Casamance (region located in the south of Senegal), and the G20 countries. This project consists of recycling computer equipment from HEC Lausanne to equip schools in Casamance and ensure a second future for it.