Nairobi 13 October 2014—On the occasion marking this year’s World Habitat Day, UN-Habitat has announced the 2014 winners of the Urban Youth Fund.
A total of 22 youth-led organizations from 18 countries have been selected for the Urban Youth Fund program in 2014. The projects will receive financial support as well as training and capacity building and follow-up throughout the duration of the project.
The selected initiatives include: land reforms for the indigenous people of Chile; the support of youth living with disabilities in Egypt; waste management; housing rights; vocational training and micro-finance; and climate change education and capacity building. Especially impressive are the projects that combine different urban development issues and engage with local governments, the private sector and other actors to ensure the long-term sustainability of the projects. Through the involvement of regional offices in the selection process, UN-Habitat hopes to develop closer synergies this year between the Urban Youth fund and its overall work program.
The India Youth Fund Window is a partnership between UN-Habitat and the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation (NSF) under the Global Urban Youth Fund. The funding window aims to advance youth empowerment in India.
This year the Fund received applications from youth-led organizations in 91 countries. Applications received went through a thorough competitive evaluation process, including a check of eligibility, a quality assessment, shortlisting, vetting by Habitat Program Managers and a final selection of projects by the Steering Committee. The selected projects were then approved by the Advisory Committee. The winners for the 2014 Urban Youth Fund award represent a diverse and talented display of work from global youth.
Notably, the Fund has grown to encompass new geographic locations, including the Maldives and post- conflict areas, such as Somalia where youth will implement a project encouraging participation gearing towards sustainable development. These proposed projects are envisioned to provide solutions to socio-economic issues that face young people with an aim to provide employment for and increase the participation of young people in urban governance, urban agriculture and climate change.
All of the beneficiaries have also ensured equal participation of young men and women in their projects, as well as impact on gender responsiveness. This will be followed by continuous training to the youth groups on implementation with the aim of ensuring that the intended project goals and objectives are met
Below is a list of projects of 2014 Urban Youth Fund winners.
List of winners:
Africa Region
Organization Name
Country
French Speaking Countries
Demain La Vie
Cameroon
Fikambanan'ny Ambanivohitra Miasa iray Aina
Madagascar
Cercle des Jeunes Femmes du Kivu
Congo
Gender related projects
Walta Mothers Children Health Care Organization
Ethiopia
Young African Refugees for Integral Development
Uganda
Other Projects
Social Care Youth Initiative
Rwanda
Asia Pacific region
Organization Name
Country
Gender-related project
Center for Supporting Sustainable Development of
Vietnam
Other projects
Model Community Development Society
Nepal
Transparency Maldives
Maldives
Joshua Welfare Organization
Pakistan
Institute for Future
Mongolia
Latin America Projects
Description of project
Organization Name
Country
Gender related project
Asociación Colectivo Mujeres Constructoras de Condega
Nicaraguay
Other projects
Corporación de Profesionales Construyendo Ciudadanía
Colombia
TECHO-Haiti
Haiti
Desarrollo Juvenil del Norte, A.C
Mexico
Arab States
Organization Name
Country
Healthy Egyptians Association for development
Egypt
Karama Organization for Women and Children Development
Palestine
India Window
Name or Organization
City
Science for society
Mumbai
People for parity foundation
Gurgaon
Integrated people’s service society (IPSS)
Kallapuram Tamil Nadu,
Sun shine and health and social welfare society
New Delhi
Fresh & local
Mumbai
For more about the Youth Fund and UN-Habitat's Youth programme, click here