 
"Connecting Youth to Work and Citizenship Opportunities" The World Bank and Nokia are pleased to invite youth organizations and their partners to apply for grants for projects which will help young people in their transition to work or which will support their active citizenship and participation. Please see the information below for the eligibility criteria, competition rules, assessment criteria and proposal form. CALL FOR PROPOSALS NOW CLOSED Thank you for your proposals! The finalists will be announced by the beginning of May. They will be invited to Rome, Italy to showcase the proposed projects during the 2007 ECA Youth Conference in May 21-25, 2007. Downloadable Competition Guidelines CompetitionGuidelines.doc Concept of the Competition & Full Competition Guidelines :
The grant competition is organized by the Children and Youth unit of the Human Development Network and the Social Development Department's Small Grants Program in partnership with the ECA Region with the support of Nokia. The Grants are being sponsored by the World Bank Small Grants Program and Nokia.   COMPETITION CONCEPT AND GUIDELINES The Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Youth Conference Innovation Grants Competition and Showcase are organized in connection with the 2007 ECA Youth Conference held in Rome, Italy on May 21-25, 2007. The Competition is organized by the World Bank with the support of Nokia. Small Grants in the amount of 5,000 to 10,000 Euros sponsored by Nokia and the World Bank Small Grants Program will be granted to up to 10 proposals by non-governmental youth organizations. The main objective of the Competition is to identify and support innovative, small-scale, cutting-edge projects developed and implemented by young people, for achieving better opportunities and outcomes for the young people (aged 15-24) in their i) transition to work and ii) active citizenship and participation. Ultimately, the competition looks for sustainable solutions that go beyond established channels, and ideas that differ from current approaches. The event also provides an excellent opportunity to (i) emphasize and demonstrate the importance and potential of youth as active participants in development; (ii) showcase good practices; and (iii) allow all participants to interact and share ideas and knowledge, in an environment conductive to building partnerships and acquiring new sponsors. The competition consists of two parts: (i) the 1st round, where proposals are submitted to compete for the small grants and (ii) the 2nd (final) round and showcase, where the selected finalists will present their projects to the competition Jury and to the ECA Youth Conference participants in Rome. A group of technical experts from inside and outside the World Bank will review the eligible proposals in the 1st round, selecting maximum 20 ideas for the finals. A high profile jury including World Bank, Nokia and other selected high level conference participants will then evaluate each final proposal and interview the finalists in Rome. Parallel to the 2nd round, 4-5 previous winners of ECA Development Marketplaces, whose projects fall under the two competition themes, will showcase their projects and share their experiences in person in Rome. Several other ECA youth projects will be presented in the showcase through their project materials (videos, booklets, reports etc.). Applicant Profile and Eligibility Criteria Applicant Profile Countries of implementation Implementation criteria Disbursement Non-eligible projects and expenses Past winners and applicants to World Bank grants Language Applicant Profile The competition is open to registered youth NGOs in the countries of implementation. (registered, non governmental, non-profit organizations in which the majority of members are under the age of 30, and that work with and for youth) These organizations may apply without additional partners. Applications are also welcome from groups of young people aged 15-24 that are working in partnership with a registered youth NGO (as described above) in the ECA Region. At least one of the parties involved in the proposal must be based in /resident of the country of implementation. Countries of implementation Proposals must target one or more of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaiján, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. Implementation criteria The project implementation staff must be aged between 15 and 24. Counterpart contribution (minimum 25% of the grant amount, in funds or in kind, such as staff time) from one of the organizations involved in the proposal is required and should be clearly indicated and adequately calculated in the budget. Proposed activities must be completed within 12 months of receiving the disbursement. Non-eligible projects and expenses Projects with the primary output of research or knowledge, such as publications or conferences, formal education or scholarships are not eligible for the competition. Any institution building activities of the implementing agencies or recurring costs such as regular staff time or rent of office space can also not be financed by the grant. Previous winners and applicants to World Bank grants If your project is already being funded by the World Bank, you may submit a proposal that is substantially different from the project for which you have received funding. You may not submit the same idea or project. Language Proposals must be submitted in English. The themes of the Innovation Grants focus on: (i) transition to work, and (ii) active citizenship and participation, which are today especially problematic for the young people of the ECA Region. In spite of improved economic growth in many ECA countries, youth poverty, unemployment and exclusion are widespread and increasing. I) Transition to Work represents the transition of young people to working life from formal secondary or tertiary education, non-formal education or vocational training. Successful transitions are crucial to young people’s social and economic well-being. Failed transitions, increasingly common in the region, are marked by increased school dropout rates, youth unemployment, underemployment, marginalization, dissatisfaction, violence, migration, and trafficking in human beings. Several groups are especially at risk of unemployment, including rural youth, youth with disabilities and youth from minority communities. A recent World Bank study found that youth unemployment in South Eastern Europe is 2.5 times higher than the EU youth unemployment. According to ILO figures, the ECA Region as a whole reported a youth unemployment rate of 19.9 percent in 2006, second only to the Middle East and North Africa Region. The ILO also estimated a “worrisome” increase in young people who are neither in employment nor in education, which in Central and Eastern Europe reaches 34 percent, the highest in the world. II) Active Youth Citizenship and Participation. Youth participation in civic life includes youth voice in policy and service delivery. It means opportunities to be included in community and other initiatives, direct consultation and recognition through participation in policy decisions and implementation. Young people’s inputs should be included in all areas of development, from education and health to urban and rural development, and at various levels of decision-making processes from national to local and institutional level. Active citizenship also includes holding public officials accountable for their actions, demanding justice for oneself and others, and tolerating people who are ethnically or religiously different. Young people’s transition to exercising citizenship is shaped by a wide range of actors and institutions from family and peers to media, private sector and the state, all of which influence youth through their rules, norms, activities and policies. Failure in the transition can result in a disenfranchised generation or, at worst, in crime and societal violence. The structures for national youth policy in ECA are often centralized and lack connections to non-governmental youth organizations. Youth participation in different public policies at the national and local levels is uneven and most countries have not formalized the processes of youth participation, even where such organisms as national youth councils exist. Young people’s rights to justice are most daunting, with several ECA countries holding the highest youth incarceration rates in the world.
- Targeting: Proposals that clearly aim at improving the opportunities and outcomes for young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in i) their Transition to Work and/or ii) Active Citizenship and/or Participation. - Innovation: Extent to which the proposed idea varies from current approaches. The World Bank and Nokia are particularly interested in projects which introduce a new approach, process or technology, a new combination of existing processes or technologies, or a use of old technologies for new purposes. - Sustainability: Demonstrate the organizational capacity, partnerships and the financial viability of the project, the capacity to continue the operations beyond the initial funding. - Results and Measurability: demonstrate quantifiable direct impact on the target group with clearly articulated results and mechanisms to measure the project’s effectiveness in reaching them within the timeframe of implementation. - Growth Potential: capacity to scale up and reach additional beneficiaries or be replicated elsewhere, in particular, potential for the idea to be applied at a larger scale. - Realism: a realistic implementation time frame and budget. Additional weight is given to: - Ownership and Community Involvement: acceptance and ownership from local implementing/beneficiary communities; create synergies, emphasize community contribution and utilize the strengths and the resources of the respective communities. - Partnerships: bringing different stakeholders together and the potential to initiate strategic alliances between countries, institutions or sectors and push for changes on policy level. - Promoting Gender Equity: promote inclusion and active participation of young women. - Targeting and engaging most vulnerable groups: ability to engage marginalized communities, support for socio-economic development and / or target most vulnerable groups / deprived areas. · March 8, 2007 – April 8, 2007: Call for project proposals · April 9, 2007 – April 27, 2007: Review of proposals · Beginning of May, 2007: Announcement of finalists · May 15, 2007: Submission of possible additional information to further substantiate the grant proposal, materialls for the showcase and due diligence documentation: o Complete list of the applicant organization’s senior staff and board of directors (by name, age and sex) o Most recent annual financial statement listing income sources (audited if available) o Organization’s projected income and expense budget for current fiscal year, listing income sources o Copy of the applicant organization’s registration status o Latest annual report. · May 15 – 23, 2007: Review of finalists proposals · May 22– 24, 2007: Showcase and Finals in Rome, Italy The presence of a variety of development actors together in one place during the Rome Youth Conference, Showcase and the Innovation Grant finals offers several opportunities for finalists to interact with the conference participants and former winners of the Development Marketplace grants to exchange ideas, learn, and share knowledge: Conference participants will be invited to visit the showcase and vote for the best project (“winner of the audience votes”) The finalists will have a change to exchange ideas with the former winners of the DM The competition finalists will have a chance to participate in the conference events and interact with the participants, representing all parts of the youth development field. There will be separate capacity building and knowledge sharing events for the competitors The grand award ceremony will take place at the closing dinner.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) M&E will be administered through the Small Grants Program Coordinators at the World Bank Country Offices in the winning countries. They will act as the main contact point towards the grantee organizations and will reimburse the grant funds. Each country sets up its own reporting mechanism. The winner/grantee organization is required to: · Submit at minimum an interim and final progress report · Answer any inquiries from the World Bank or Nokia · Allow possible field visits · Participate/organize project follow-up activities such as meetings, workshops or media events A summary report will be put together by the World Bank on the project results and lessons learned after the project implementation and review period. The report will be published in the World Bank 2007 Rome Youth Conference Innovation Grants web-site. |
RSS