The UN-Habitat Urban Youth Fund empowers global youth by providing grants and capacity building to selected organizations in developing countries. Yearly, more than 8,000 youth-led organizations start the application process to be part of the program. Approximately 30 organizations are selected yearly to receive a grant up to 25,000 USD and capacity building support throughout the duration of the project. These organizations span various sectors, from technology and agriculture to education and poverty reduction. Every year, the Fund supports new and innovative ideas and solutions for job creation, good governance, adequate shelter and secure tenure planned and implemented by youth-led groups globally. By undertaking research on best practices in youth-led development the fund also creates greater awareness of youth-led development and the urgency to ensure that youth perspectives are integrated into local, national and international development policies and strategies. Applicants organizations must be led by young people aged 15-32 years and be based in cities or towns in developing countries to qualify for a grant. Support in terms of training, mentorship and the E- Learning programs is provided primarily for. Projects encouraging gender equality or involving partnerships with the government or the private sector are particularly encouraged.
Programme Impact
Since its inception, the Fund has impacted individual lives, communities, and countries. The Urban Youth Fund projects have:
- Operated in 172 cities and 63 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean
- Helped youth gain employable skills and opportunities
- Sponsored vocational training and credit mechanisms for entrepreneurship and employment
- Promoted gender equality in urban developments in the global South
- Increased the involvement of young people in local governance
- Worked to stop sexual harassment of women through the use of ICT
- Mapped informal settlements using GIS tools
- Improved perception of youth in the local communities
Urban Youth Fund Capacity Building Program
Urban Youth Fund E-Learning Program
The E‐Learning programme is the newest addition to the Training and Capacity Building Program of the Urban Youth Fund. It has been developed for youth aged 15‐35 years living in developing countries who have taken part in the Urban Youth Fund programme. The programme seeks to integrate the mobile technology, internet‐based curriculum and applied empirical learning to provide a dynamic learning opportunity for youth in the developing world. UN-Habitat partnered with Canadian University of Fraser Valley to provide custom courses in the area of sustainable development, social enterprise and community planning. The successful completion certificate offered by a Canadian University (University of the Fraser Valley) partnered with an internationally recognized institution such as UN-Habitat, should increase the opportunities for youth in developing countries who wish to contribute to the sustainable and equitable development of their community. Testimonials Eminus Academy student: “The situation in South Sudan is currently not favorable for working conditions, we would not access offices at times and communication networks would be off most of the time. Also working in remote areas during provision of relief projects affected my attention on the course, but I am glad I have learned a lot.” Eminus Academy student: “The course content was clear, concise and to the point. I was worried that the course might have some ambiguous business terms, which I didn’t find eventually. It was just what we need or what I needed to further develop my idea.” Eminus Academy student: “It was tailored to suit my time at work. Since it was online, with proper time between each chapter, I was able to properly digest each section of the course and sometimes go further to understand a certain topic. The tablets were actually very beneficial as I was able to download the readings on it and review them when I am at hospital at work between patient’s visits.”
View more testimonials here: India: Gaurav Sardana Eminus Academy Pitch Jamaica: Lanisia Rhoden & Shamoy Hajare Eminus Academy Pitch Egypt: Haitham Shoman Pitch
Urban Youth Fund Mentorship Program
The Urban Youth Fund has kicked off a new and exciting opportunity for people who want to mentor youth-led organizations from around the world and help them to become active citizens in their communities and bring about global change. The UN-Habitat Urban Youth Fund seeks to select mentors to guide our youth-led organizations to realize their full potential. Once appointed, the individual will be an official part of our UN-Habitat Urban Youth Fund community, with access to a global network of mentors and emerging youth leaders. Benefits to Mentors While unpaid, mentors will receive recognition from UN-Habitat with an announcement through our communication channels and on our official website. The mentorship program has an established online community exclusively for mentors where you will interact with other mentors, in addition to our LinkedIn community.
This is a unique opportunity for grassroots, experts and consultants to work with top youth groups globally, and take youth empowerment to the next level. The programme pairs the mentors to projects, based on their interest areas and expertise to assist participating organizations to reach their full potential, and the mentors have a direct impact on meaningful projects that are aligned with the mentor’s interest areas. The mentorship programme allows UN-Habitat to provide deeper and better support to those receiving grants from the Youth Fund, by strengthening the sustainability of the projects through capacity development tailored for young social entrepreneurs. The 2015 call for applications received an overwhelming response from potential mentors, with ultimately eleven applicants chosen for the initial mentor program to work with specific youth-led organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The mentors are extraordinary people from the private, academia, and NGO sectors who are dedicating their time to support the project coordinators. UN-Habitat is excited to work with this group of professional people and is grateful for their dedication towards youth empowerment. We worked with refine+focus to develop and implement Youth Fund Strategic Planning supporting and enabling this success, www.refineandfocus.com. 2015 mentors The UN- Habitat Urban Youth Fund is pleased to work closely with the 2015 Mentors.
Urban Youth Fund Beneficiaries
Featured Urban Youth Fund Projects: Africa Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan Asia Pacific Indonesia, Pakistan, Yemen Find out more on the website of the Urban Youth Fund
