UNHCR Call for proposals for the “Youth Initiative Fund”, 2019

In 2019, the YIF enters its seventh year. The YIF was initiated by the Division of International Protection in Geneva to support community-based protection projects imagined, designed and led by young people. Since 2014, the YIF has supported more than 100 youth-led projects globally that have addressed protection challenges including sexual and gender-based violence, peaceful coexistence, child protection, and psycho-social well-being.

The YIF is unique in that it targets and builds upon the existing capacities and capabilities of young people, rather than focusing on vulnerabilities. The YIF creates an enabling environment that provides young people with space and support necessary to become active protection actors within their communities and helps them build life skills that strengthen resilience.

This is achieved through the realization of three main objectives:

1. Participation: Young people have genuine opportunities for community participation and opportunities to affect decision-making processes, especially in the area of protection;

2. Empowerment: Young people learn about project management, use their initiative, evaluate options, learn to make informed decisions and choices, developing and enhancing leadership skills;

3. Innovation: Young people develop innovative, youth-appropriate protection solutions to addressing personal, group and community challenges.

Eligibility

Projects should take into consideration the following approaches:
- Community-Based Protection and Capacity Development;
- Innovation and Partnerships.

Please consider the following when developing your proposals:
- Funding allocations should be allocated directly to project activities where possible, rather than capital expenditure unless directly linked to achieving the project objectives;
- Consult the programme team in your location to ensure there is clear understanding of procurement procedures and processes, and how this may affect the timeline of the project;
- Projects that concentrate on a single issue and demonstrate effectively how this will be addressed, whilst building capacity, are more likely to be funded;
- Past YIF project practices and common enabling factors are summarized in the report YIF summary report “On their Own Terms”. Consider the Core Actions for Refugee Youth developed through the Global Refugee Youth consultations (GRYC).

Benefits
The maximum funding allocation per project is USD 10,000

For more information, please visit the following link:
UNHCR Call for proposals for the “Youth Initiative Fund”