2023/2024 United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Youth Solidarity Fund for Innovative Youth Projects (USD 25,000 Grant)

Are you a young change-maker looking to make a positive impact in your community? The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is pleased to invite youth-led organizations to apply for the 2023 edition of its Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF). The call is open to organizations from eligible countries whose work seeks to promote peace and social inclusion through improved understanding, respect, and collaboration across borders, cultures, faiths, and beliefs.

Through a competitive evaluation process, YSF will award seed funding of up to USD 25,000 for the implementation of outstanding and impactful projects that use intercultural and interfaith dialogue and are aligned with the mandate and mission of UNAOC. YSF only supports projects that are entirely developed and managed by youth, for the benefit of the whole society, especially youth.

Established in 2008, YSF responded to calls for action made by young civil society leaders worldwide on the importance of establishing funding mechanisms for youth-led organizations. To date, YSF has funded and supported 73 youth-led organizations in more than 40 countries worldwide.

In its tenth edition, YSF continues to provide comprehensive support to youth-led organizations, with a particular focus on the role of young people in promoting peace, respect for other religions and cultures, preventing violent extremism, addressing the root causes of intolerance, stigma and discrimination, and tackling hate speech and its impact on young people. It contributes to the implementation of several global policy frameworks by engaging young people in building peaceful and inclusive societies.

Requirement

Youth-led organizations registered and operational in one of the eligible countries;
Registered youth-led organizations with projects entirely developed and managed by youth.

Eligibility criteria:

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 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 (except for 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 two years prior to the deadline for applications with funding base and project implementation (operating in April 2021 or earlier);
Be registered and operate in one of the aforementioned countries;
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 support through the Intercultural Innovation Hub.

Type of projects:

Youth Solidarity Fund provides seed funding to outstanding projects promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue. It awards grants of up to USD 25,000 for the implementation of selected projects that demonstrate innovative and effective approaches to intercultural and/or interfaith dialogue and advance the mission of UNAOC. Proposals linked to the implementation of the following frameworks/policies are particularly encouraged:

Projects that support the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015), 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020) on Youth, Peace and Security in connection to intercultural and interfaith dialogue;
Projects that support the implementation of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism by promoting intercultural and interfaith dialogue as a prevention tool;
Projects that support the implementation of the United Nations Comprehensive Response to COVID-19 by addressing the increased stigma and discrimination of young people and their communities exacerbated by the pandemic;
Projects that support the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action to Safeguard Religious Sites by promoting respect for other religions and cultures, the right of human beings to practice their faith in safety and peace, and efforts to combat extremist ideologies and narratives;
Projects that support the implementation of the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech by addressing the issues and their impact on young people.

The projects funded by YSF target young people from various backgrounds: students, marginalized youth, minorities, youth in rural or urban areas, youth in conflict or post-conflict situations, artists and activists. The youth-led organizations employ creative methodologies to break stereotypes, improve intercultural relations and promote a culture of peace, including:

Educational activities, ranging from one-day awareness-raising sessions to week-long trainings, peer-education activities, summer camps, as well as development of educational materials and tools and creation of networks of student leaders and youth clubs;
Arts and sports as tools to address conflict in a non-violent way, to promote inter-community understanding and to raise-awareness about the dangers of sectarianism, extremism and radicalization;
Media and social-media campaigns, video production for advocacy purposes and radio series to promote messages of tolerance and peace;
Creative settings that facilitate intercultural dialogue, interfaith understanding, sharing of experiences and learning from each other in order to bring meaningful change to their society.

Method of Application:

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

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’s organization;
A copy of the registration certificate of the applicant’s organization;
A copy of the statutes/by-laws of the applicant’s organization;
An organizational chart depicting the ages of key decision-makers within the organization;
A biography of the current Executive/Managing Director, showing the date of birth (one page maximum);
The resume/CV of the project coordinator (two pages maximum);
A picture or scan of the project coordinator’s passport identification page. If the project coordinator does not have a passport, upload his or her national identification card.

The word/character limit for each question in the application form needs to be respected. The application system automatically counts words and characters.

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