UNAOC Youth Solidarity Fund 2016/2017 for Innovative Youth Projects (USD 25,000 Grants)

Application Deadline: February 5, 2017, 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (New York).

The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) supports youth-led organizations that foster peaceful and inclusive societies by providing direct funding to outstanding projects promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue. It awards grants (up to USD 25,000) to selected projects that demonstrate innovative 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. The age definition used by UNAOC to characterize youth is a person who is between 18 and 35 years old.

Established in 2008, the Fund 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. Since its creation, YSF has funded 50 youth-led organizations in 30 countries.

Eligibility Criteria:

To be eligible, applying youth organizations need to fulfill each and every one of the following criteria:

• Be a membership-based youth-led organization;
• 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-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 at the time of the application with funding base and project implementation (e.g. registered in January 2015 or earlier);
• Be registered and operate in one of the aforementioned countries;
• Have a democratic governance structure, leadership nomination and consultative processes in formulating priorities and policies with members;
• 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, membership 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.;
• Did not receive funding under past editions of YSF or did not receive the UNAOC-BMW Intercultural Innovation Award.

Application Process:

To apply:

Interested organizations can apply at the following link: http://apply.unaoc.org/

In order to be considered complete and valid, the application package must include the following and be submitted through the online application system available at http://apply.unaoc.org/

• 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;
• 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.

Contact email: [email protected]

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UNAOC Youth Solidarity Fund 2016/2017