The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is accepting applications from youth-led groups for its 2023 iteration. Organizations working to advance peace and social inclusion via better communication, respect, and cooperation across boundaries, cultures, faiths, and beliefs are eligible to apply.
The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) provides financial assistance to youth-run organizations that promote inclusive and peaceful society. Projects that demonstrate creative and successful methods for intercultural or interreligious communication are given seed money. Additionally, UNAOC provides support for building capacity to assist youth-led groups in strengthening the execution of their projects.
The supported initiatives are driven by and targeted toward youth. Youth, according to UNAOC, is defined as someone who is between the ages of 18 and 35. Although the initiatives primarily focus on young people, they have an impact on entire communities and frequently involve political or religious leaders, decision-makers in the public sector, as well as academic institutions and the media.
Benefits
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- The Young Social Fund (YSF) will provide seed money of up to USD 25,000 through a competitive review procedure for the implementation of exceptional and significant projects that involve intercultural and interreligious dialogue and are in line with the mandate and objective of UNAOC. The YSF only funds initiatives that are wholly created and run by young people and that benefit everyone in society, but particularly young people.
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- YSF was founded in 2008 in response to international demands for action from young civil society leaders on the necessity of setting up financial channels for youth-led groups. 73 youth-led organizations from more than 40 different nations have received funding and support from YSF as of this writing.
- In its tenth edition, YSF continues to offer comprehensive support to youth-led organizations, with a focus on the contribution of youth to fostering peace, respect for other religions and cultures, preventing violent extremism, addressing the root causes of intolerance, stigma, and discrimination, and combating hate speech and its effects on young people. By involving young people in creating inclusive and peaceful societies, it supports the implementation of numerous international policy frameworks.
Eligibility
Young people from a variety of backgrounds are the focus of the YSF’s supported initiatives, including students, marginalized youth, minorities, kids living in rural or urban areas, youth involved in conflict or the aftermath of conflict, artists, and activists.
The youth-led organizations use innovative techniques to shatter stereotypes, enhance intercultural understanding, and advance a culture of peace, such as:
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- Educational initiatives, such as one-day awareness-raising events, weeklong trainings, peer-education activities, summer camps, the development of instructional materials and tools, and the establishment of networks of student leaders and youth organizations;
- Using the arts and sports to foster intercommunity understanding, address conflict nonviolently, and raise public awareness of the risks of extremism, radicalization, and sectarianism;
- Campaigns in the media and on social media, film production for advocacy objectives, and radio shows to spread messages of peace and tolerance;
- A society can transform for the better by using innovative environments that encourage intercultural discourse, interfaith understanding, the exchange of experiences, and mutual learning.
How to Apply:
Join a new group of energetic young change-makers who are advancing inclusive and peaceful societies and changing their communities.
Apply for the Youth Solidarity Fund’s 10th anniversary.
Deadline in New York is Friday, May 14, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.