Are
you a youth and you have a non-governmental organization (NGO) comprising
youths that you are managing? Do you have a project that will focus on
Grassroots development and address social problems such as youth unemployment
and poverty? Will your project enhance access
to affordable housing
and secure land
tenure, safer cities
and participation in
decision making. Youth-led Development should give young people valuable
skills such as project management and teamwork, thus boosting their ability to
acquire jobs and participate actively in society. Then, this is an opportunity
for you to apply for UN HABITAT Youth Grant
to finance your Project. The UN-HABITAT Youth Fund is a programme initiated by
the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT)
to support urban
youths in developing countries
with the aim of
advancing the achievement
of the Millennium
Development Goals and
the Habitat Agenda. The Urban Youth Fund has an annual
budget of USD 1 million allocated for grants
to youth-led projects in the developing world.
The Fund is established with support from the Government of Norway and
the resolution was the fund should support those young people who need
assistance the most, in particular the most vulnerable in urban slums. The fund
is administered by a secretariat within UN-HABITAT in Nairobi, Kenya.
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible Organizations
The
intended beneficiaries of the fund are young men
and women aged 15-32 living in urban areas in the developing world. The
fund reaches these individuals through legally
registered, youth-led, non-profit organizations.
Youth-Led:
Applicant organizations must be led by young people aged 15-32 years. However,
adults above the age of 32 years may still take part in the organization and
youth-adult partnerships are highly encouraged.
Legally Registered: Applicant organizations must be legally registered
for at least one (1) year by the relevant national, regional or local
authority.
Non-Profit & Non-Governmental: Applicants must be non-profit, non-governmental
organizations. UN institutions, governmental organizations and private
enterprises may engage in partnerships with youth-led organizations applying
for a grant.
Developing Countries: Applicant organizations must be legally registered
in one of the following developing regions: Africa; Latin-America and the
Caribbean; Asia (excluding Japan); Oceania (excluding Australia and New
Zealand).
Inclusion of Girls & Young Women: Applicant organizations must involve girls and
young women in decision-making at all levels of the organization. This includes
senior management level and board.
Valid Bank Account: The applicant organization must have a bank account
in the name of the organization. This name has to be identical to the name of
the legal registration certificate. A bank account in any other name will lead
to disqualification of the application.
Facilitating Organization: Applicant organizations
that lack a valid registration certificate or bank account, but fulfill all
other eligibility criteria, may apply in partnership with another organization
that will serve as the facilitating organization. In this case, the
facilitating organization will enter into a grant agreement with UN-HABITAT and
receive the grant on behalf of the applicant organization. Civil society
organizations or local governments may all serve as facilitating organizations.
Religious Evangelization: Organizations that carry out religious
evangelization are not eligible to apply for a grant. However, development organizations affiliated to religious bodies
may apply.
Political Parties:
Organizations that are affiliated to political parties are not eligible to
apply for a grant.
Eligible Projects
Proposed
projects must fulfill the all the following criteria to be eligible for a
grant:
Youth-led:
Projects must be created, managed and implemented by young people aged 15-32
years. However, adults above the age of 32 years may still take part in the
project and youth-adult partnerships are highly encouraged.
Relevance of the Project Fund: Projects must contribute to sustainable urban
development within one of the following areas:
i.
Urban Land, Legislation and Governance (Training in governance & Democracy)
ii.
Urban Planning and Design (Creating youth space & Youth friendly cities)
iii.
Urban Economy (Employment, Job & business training)
iv.
Urban Basic Services (Recycling, water, sewage and IT services)
v.
Housing and Slum Upgrading (Lobbying for access to affordable housing, training
in construction)
vi.
Risk Reduction and Rehabilitation (Training & services for youth at Risk,
drugs, alcohol & prostitution)
vii.
Research and Capacity Development (Training, building networks & research)
Urban
Settlement: Projects must be implemented within a city or town
with more than 10,000 inhabitants.
Involvement
of Young People with Fewer Opportunities: Projects must
target disadvantaged youth with fewer opportunities, especially those living in
urban slums.
Involvement
of Girls and Young Women: Projects must include girls and
young women among targeted beneficiaries.
AWARD
CRITERIA
Projects submitted to
the UN-HABITAT Youth Fund will be assessed against the following criteria:
1.
Impact towards the priorities of the Fund (40%)
2.
Quality of project design (50%)
3.
Organizational capacity (10%)
FUNDING
The project budget must
be drafted according to the following rules:
Activity
Costs
Activity costs
are any costs
directly linked to
the implementation of project activities.
Activity costs may constitute a minimum of 90 percent of total project
expenditure and must be described in detail in the budget. Examples
of activity costs
are expenses related
to the construction
of buildings, purchase of
essential equipment for
the project, costs
related to the
organization of training courses
and seminars, expenses
met in developing
handbooks or tools,
or other costs related to activities that are
essential to the implementation of the project.
Administration
costs
Administration costs
are any costs
linked to the
administration of the
project and not
specific activities in the
project. Administration costs
may constitute a
maximum of 10
percent of total project expenditure and must be
described in detail in the budget. Examples of administration costs are
salaries and volunteer allowances, office supplies, internet and telephone
bills, costs of regular meetings, reporting costs, etc.
Non-eligible
costs
The following project
costs are not eligible for support by the Urban Youth Fund:
Ø Costs related
to the participation
of young people
at international conferences,
sports competitions, art festivals, or similar events;
Ø Costs
related to the participation of international volunteers in local projects,
such as flights, visa fees, accommodation and boarding, etc;
Ø Costs
related to the purchase of equipment that is not essential to the
implementation of the project or that can be hired for the project period at a
lower cost
Ø Salaries
and volunteer allowances exceeding the 10% allowed for administration costs.
APPLICATION
Download Application Guide for more on application
procedure HERE