Deadline Date: May 18, 2025
Applications are now open for the Youth Empowerment Fund to break down barriers to funding to youth initiatives and organisations and engage, empower and connect young people to create local solutions to the world’s biggest challenges from climate change and gender equality to access to education and employment.
It aims to provide opportunities for mentoring, coaching and capacity strengthening and unlocks opportunities for marginalised and under represented communities. Projects should therefore try and ensure that young people from marginalised and/or at risk groups receive the opportunity to take part. The groups of young people include, but are not limited, to the following:
- Young people who were married or became mothers/fathers as adolescents,
- Young people from ethnic minorities,
- Young people who were out-of-school girls or boys,
- Young people living with physical or mental health disabilities and concerns,
- Young people living with HIV/AIDS,
- Young people who identify as non-binary/sexual minorities
- Young people who are survivors of gender-based violence (GBV)
- Indigenous young men and young women
Objectives
- The aim of Network Solutions projects is to ensure that the Big Six through the Global Youth Mobilization can:
- Reach more young people through its collective grassroots, community-based reach of more than 250 million young people, contributing to the empowerment of more than one billion young people over the last century.
- Reach young people in their diversity, particularly young people in situations of vulnerability or from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, or youth that face challenges related to gender equality and young people with a disability. The Big Six will ensure inclusive and accessible programmes by actively working to address the barriers young people face in accessing opportunities.
- Young people at the grassroots are supported offline, by national organizations of the Big Six and their local branches, and far-reaching established volunteer networks in their own communities, to not only access funding for their ideas, but to build their capacity to implement local solutions and receive accompaniment in the process.
Funding Information
- Every project will be eligible for a minimum grant value of EUR 10,000 to a maximum grant value of EUR 20,000.
- Multi-country projects can receive grants of up to EUR 30,000 for a minimum of three countries.
- Duration: All projects’ duration should be within a minimum 6 months to a maximum 12 months to deliver the grant. Projects are expected to start around July 2025, in case of approval.
Eligible Projects
- All Network Solutions projects must be:
- Strategic: Projects must be directly related to the overall aims of the Youth Empowerment Fund through the Global Youth Mobilization initiative and clearly link to the National Movement’s operational strategy or action plan.
- Achievable: The aims, milestones and indicators must be realistic with clear reasoning of how to achieve success and what that looks like.
- Making a measurable difference: Projects should demonstrate how they will make a difference to the young people engaged and the communities that the activity seeks to support.
- Ambition: Projects should result in significant development and engagement of young people and other community organisations, proportional to the grant received.
- Value and impact: The project should include a plan to monitor and evaluate the implementation and project results.
Eligibility Criteria
- Projects need to be located/take place in the eligible geographic area as specified by EU’s ODA eligible list.
- Local Associations and YMCA affiliated Youth/Youth Groups can apply but must submit an endorsement letter from the respective National Movement (that meets criteria I and II). The letter must indicate that the National Movement will accept responsibility for administration of the grant and all associated legal aspects.
- National YMCA Movements (those who are applying and those who are endorsing) must be from eligible countries and must be members of the World Alliance of YMCAs and their respective Area Alliance. These National YMCAs must have paid their WAY 2024 Fair Share. Those who are not up to date with their Fair Share must submit to the World YMCA a proposed plan to settle their arrears for approval.
- Area Alliances can apply for multi-country projects but must ensure that the NMs they intend to implement meet criteria I & III. Area Alliance projects must be multi-country in nature with a minimum of three countries.
- Applicants must demonstrate that they:
- Have the operational capacity to mobilize proposed target groups including vulnerable and at risk youth stated in the proposal.
- Have the capacity to manage the grant and associated reporting, monitoring and communication requirements.
- A mechanism for collaboration with local stakeholders and grassroot organisations.
- Can meaningfully engage young people in any one or combination of the following ways:
- Youth lead or co-lead in the design of the project
- Youth in all their diversities are consulted in the project design phase
- Youth have clear and distinct lead or co-leading roles in project implementation with national movement or local association staff/volunteers
- Youth lead, co-lead a stewardship/coordinating body/structure providing oversight to project implementation.
