Deadline: August 30, 2019
Applications are open for the UNAOC Youth Solidarity Fund 2019. The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) supports youth-led organizations that foster peaceful and inclusive societies by providing seed funding to outstanding projects promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue.
It awards grants for the implementation of selected projects that demonstrate innovative and effective approaches to intercultural or interfaith dialogue and advance the mission of UNAOC. YSF only supports projects that are entirely developed and managed by youth for the benefit of youth.
Established in 2008, YSF responded to calls for action made by young civil society leaders around the world on the importance of establishing funding mechanisms for youth-led organizations. A total of 63 projects were funded by the end of 2018 reaching 94,055 direct beneficiaries in 39 countries. In total, more than 1.7 million direct and indirect beneficiaries have been impacted over the past ten years.
Grants
- Grant up to USD $25,000 is awarded to selected project and organisation.
Eligibility
Youth organizations are subject to the same criteria as other partners of the United Nations System in that they must be accountable, transparent and refrain from all discriminatory practices.
To be eligible, applying youth organizations need to fulfill each and every one of the following criteria:
- Be youth-led: a majority of the positions and decision-making roles within the organization are held by women and men between the ages of 18 and 35;
- Be a non-profit, non-governmental organization (with the exception of national youth councils) registered in the country of operation as a charity, trust, foundation or association;
- Be officially registered and operational for a minimum of 2 years by the deadline for applications with funding base and project implementation (e.g. operational in August 2017 or earlier);
- Have a democratic governance structure and decision making mechanism, including consultative processes in formulating priorities and policies;
- Have an ability to demonstrate proper and consistent monitoring, evaluation and record-keeping of their activities, including project evaluation reports and financial accounts;
- Have a gender perspective/balance reflected in their staff, beneficiaries and activities;
- Have no adherence to or affiliations with violent ideologies or antagonism against any particular country, culture, religion or belief system, ethnic group, gender, etc.; and
- Did not receive funding under past editions of YSF or did not receive the Intercultural Innovation Award.
Eligible Criteria for Projects
All submitted projects must fulfill each and every one of the following criteria to be deemed eligible and be reviewed by the Selection Committee:
- Origin: The project was developed and written by youth;
- Target Audience: The project targets primarily youth. Gender balance among project participants is ensured;
- Objective: The project contributes to advancing UNAOC’s mandate of promoting a more socially inclusive world, by building mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious identities;
- Management: The project is managed by a youth-led organization, responding to all eligibility criteria mentioned above;
- Project Coordinator: The Project Coordinator is an employee of the applying organization and is between the ages of 18 and 35 at the moment of the application;
- Duration and Timing: The project must be implemented during November 2019 to November 2020, while final reports will need to be submitted by 15 November 2020 at the very latest;
- Location: Project activities are implemented in the country(ies) mentioned in the above list (see geographical coverage section;
- Budget: The organization needs to guarantee its capacity to implement all elements of the proposed project with the funds requested. The amount requested must be no more than 50% of the organization’s annual budget in 2018. Grants provided by UNAOC will not exceed USD 25,000. The proposed budget will have 90% of costs associated with direct project activities and only up to 10% of it will cover Project Coordinator’s salary/fees. Office rent cost, utilities and purchase of technical equipment (e.g. computers, copiers, printers, cameras, telephones, etc.) cannot be part of the budget;
- English: Application and CV/resume of the Project Coordinator must be in English only;
- Registration certificate and statute: A copy of a registration certificate and a statute need to be attached to the application form. They can be submitted in original language of the country where the organization is registered. Translations may be requested during later stages of the selection process.
Application
In order to be considered complete and valid, the application package must include the following and be submitted through the online application system:
- The application form, completed and certified by the applicant organization;
- A copy of the registration certificate of the applicant organization;
- A copy of the statutes/by-laws of the applicant organization;
- An organizational chart, depicting the ages of key decision makers within the organization;
- A biography of the current Executive/Managing Director, showing date of birth (1 page maximum);
- The resume/CV of the project coordinator (2 pages maximum);
- A picture or scan of the project coordinator’s passport identification page. If the project coordinator does not have an international passport, upload his or her national identification card.
- Word/character limit for each question in the application form needs to be respected. The application system automatically counts words and characters.
For more information, visit UNAOC Youth Solidarity Fund.
