World Summit Youth Awards 2012

Registration is now open for World Summit Youth Awards 2012 that are open to young people (under the age of 30 years from any of the UN member states) that have developed any sort of innovative project or product using information technology aimed at helping their community.

The applicant may be a developer of website or mobile apps, e-content writer, journalists or writer, application designer, technologist or anyone contributing to address poverty, protecting the environment, sharing knowledge and empowering young people.

Award Highlights

The Youth Award is not a cash award. The reward for winners is to be recognized on a world stage, to be invited to the winners’ events, to be able to connect with each other and discuss with renowned experts in the field of ICT for Development. Last year, winner’s events took place in New York, USA.

The WSYA selects and promotes best practice in e-Content. It demonstrates young people’s potential to create outstanding digital contents and serves as a platform for people from all UN member states to work together in the efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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Greece: The Golden Dawn has risen

Harsh austerity measures imposed in the past two years in Greece has placed severe strain on public spending and resulted in disaffection and rage among the population. In a country where 1 in 2 young people are unemployed, it is no surprise that the Hryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn) Party managed to claim 7% of seats in the just concluded parliamentary elections.

Registered as a political party in 1993, though the leadership claim that they are not neo-nazi; with a uniform of black shirts bearing an insignia similar to the Nazi emblem, Golden Dawn have been blamed for violent hate fueled attacks on immigrants, particularly in the low-end areas. They have also been active in appealing to youth support by distributing fliers in schools and organizing concerts.

Seemingly their hard hitting campaign tactics where immigrants were virulently described as “stench” did not encumber their popularity. Nor did their calls for debt write-off, trashing the multi-billion bailout from the so-called “global loan sharks” also fail to galvanize their support. 

Without significant interventions into youth unemployment, the right of far-right extremists will continue in Europe unabated.

 

Anzisha Prize

The Anzisha Prize is a youth innovation competition that promotes entrepreneurial projects amongst young people (age 15-20) in Africa. Finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to the African Leadership Academy campus in Honeydew, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa to attend a weeklong entrepreneurship conference. Grand prize winners, selected from these finalists, will share $75,000 USD in cash prizes to take their projects to the next level. This year, there will also be a special $10,000 award given to an Anzisha finalist with a renewable energy related project, courtesy of Silicon Valley Community Foundation Donor Circle for Africa.
The Anzisha Prize celebrates young entrepreneurs in the private and social sectors – both for-profit efforts that generate employment for other members of the community, and non-profit efforts that address entrenched social problems in the community. Applicants will be evaluated on the impact, ingenuity, and scalability of their entrepreneurial efforts.
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2012 MILEAD Fellowship for young African women leaders – Call For Applications

Who is the most outstanding young African woman leader you know ?

Moremi Initiative for Women’s Leadership in Africa (Moremi Initiative) has announced its call for applications for the 2012 Moremi Leadership Empowerment and Development (MILEAD) Fellows Program.

The MILEAD Fellows Program is a one-year leadership development program designed to identify, develop and promote emerging young African Women leaders to attain and succeed in leadership in their community and Africa as a whole. The program targets dynamic young women interested in developing transformational leadership skills that help them tackle issues affecting women in their communities and society as a whole- by equipping them with the world class knowledge, skills, values and networks they need to succeed as 21st century women leaders. Applications are welcome from young African women living in Africa and the Diaspora.

The MILEAD Fellowship will be awarded to 25 outstanding young women with exceptional qualities who have exhibited leadership potential in their community, organization, and/or profession.

To be eligible for the one-year program, an applicant must be African, living on the continent or in the Diaspora; agree to participate in all required activities related to MILEA- including a three-week residential Summer Institute in Ghana; and commit to a community change project.

Applicants must be between 19 – 25 years of age. Specific requirements of the program and related dates are outlined in the application package. Please review program and application guidelines carefully, before completing your application.

Please note that this is not a full-time fellowship. Selected candidates may remain full time students or work full time for the program duration, except during the 3–week summer institute. The 3-week summer institute is an intensive and full-time residential program and all fellows will be required to attend. The rest of the program involves community-based, online and other distance activities.

How to Apply:

The application package and additional information is available online at www.moremiinitiative.org

Application forms must be downloaded and filled-out in word document format. Completed application form must be submitted with two letters of recommendation and CV. All applications and supporting documents must be submitted by email.

Deadline for applications. March 15^th 2012.

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Green Economy Eco-Business Innovation Challenge

The Green Economy Eco-Business Innovations Challenge (GEEBIZ) is a global business innovations challenge for young people to express their vision and entrepreneurship skills and apply them to the building of a green economy. The ultimate goal is to ENCOURAGE young people (up to age 30) to put forward innovative business ideas that can form the building blocks of a new, clean green economy based on renewable energy, resource efficiency, social equity, and the restoration as well as the conservation of the earth’s eco- systems

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UN-Habitat Urban Youth Fund – 4th Call for applications

The UN-HABITAT invites young people based in cities or towns from the developing world to apply for grants of up to USD 25,000. The deadline for applications is April 15th 2012.

To qualify for a grant, the project must be led by young people aged 15-32, and be based in cities or towns in developing countries.

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Rio+20 Global Youth Music Contest

The Rio+20 Global Youth Music Contest is a global competition for young people organized by the International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI) with a wide number of partners and youth networks on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (Rio+20 Earth Summit) to be held in June 2012 in Brazil.

This opportunity encourages youth to express their hopes, concerns and thoughts on future of our earth through the resonance of music as a powerful expression that incites commitment for sustainable development.

The contest will collect musical messages from global youth exploring global solutions for sustainable development and the winners will win a trip to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Rio+20 Earth Summit in June 2012 and make the voices of global youth heard through their music.

Read more http://www.yipekenya.org/Rio.htm

A.J. Muste Memorial Fund, International Nonviolence Training Grants – Call for Applications

The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute funds projects which promote the principles and practice of nonviolent social change through grantmaking programs including the International Nonviolence Training Fund (INTF).

The INTF was created in 1994 by a group of concerned donors with the aim of specifically supporting nonviolence trainings. (For information about our other grantmaking programs, please see the grants page on http://www.ajmuste.org/ajgrants.html )

Nonviolence trainings seek to help people develop and improve the skills they need to confront systemic injustice through organized, principled, nonviolent action. Trainings promote the exchange of ideas, information, and strategies, through which activists can become more effective at using nonviolent action in their struggles.

INTF GRANTMAKING PRIORITIES

The INTF supports nonviolence training outside the United States, and within Native nations in the US.

Projects eligible for support include:

• Those which build capacity and leadership among people engaged in nonviolent struggles;
• Those which prepare participants for specific nonviolent actions or campaigns;
• Those geared to “training the trainers,” in order to expand and multiply nonviolence training throughout a targeted community.

Preference is given to:

• Projects which involve trainers from the local area or region, where such trainers are available.
• Groups which are small, community-based and have less access to funding from other sources.

The maximum grant amount is US$3,000.

The INTF does not fund:

• Trainings which are geared primarily toward resolving conflicts between individuals, building life skills or job skills, or achieving personal empowerment or economic independence.
• Conflict resolution or violence reduction programs which do not directly promote activism for social justice.
• Scholarships or other funding for people to travel abroad to attend courses or training sessions.
• Trainings with budgets over US$50,000, or organizations with annual budgets over US$500,000.

The Muste Institute can and does directly fund organizations which do not have their own 501(c)3 non-profit tax-exempt status, and/or which are not incorporated. The only time the Institute requires a fiscal sponsor is if the organization does not have its own bank account. If you cannot receive a grant directly (with the grant check made out to the name of your organization), please indicate this in your proposal and include information about your fiscal sponsor, including a letter indicating the sponsor’s tax-exempt status and some basic information such as a brochure or brief annual report.

WHEN TO APPLY TO THE INTF

The next deadlines for proposals for the International Nonviolence Training Fund is December 2^nd 2011.

The review and decision process takes approximately four months.

The INTF does not consider proposals for trainings which will have already taken place by the time its decision is made, so you are urged to apply at least four to five months before your training is set to begin, especially if you need preparation time for the training after notification of the grant decision.

Groups which receive INTF grants must generally wait two years before applying again to the INTF.

HOW TO APPLY TO THE INTF

To submit a proposal, fill out completely the INTF Grant Application Form: http://ajmuste.org/INTFGrantApplicationForm.doc

Email the completed form (preferably in MS Word or RTF format) with all required attachments to intf(at)ajmuste.org  with the subject line “INTF:” followed by the name of your group.

NOTE: If you are awarded a grant, you will have to provide a complete financial accounting for all funds received from the Muste Institute, demonstrating that they were used in accord with the grant agreement. This accounting is due as soon as the money is spent or within six months, whichever comes first. If funds from a grant remain unspent after six months, you must submit an updated accounting every six months until the complete grant is spent. This financial accounting should be accompanied by copies of materials produced with Institute funds, and a brief narrative report on the project.

Go to http://www.yipekenya.org/News.htm to find more grant opportunities

Statement from the National Youth Sector Alliance on the Misappropriation of the The Kazi Kwa Vijana and the Kenya Youth Empowerment Program Funds by Government Officials.

Nairobi: September 24^th 2011

The National Youth Sector Alliance is disturbed by the news that that Kazi Kwa Vijana Funds provided by the World Bank for the purpose of empowering Kenyan Youth with job opportunities have been misappropriated by top officials in the office of the Prime Minister. Media reports indicate that the World Bank released 4 Billion Shillings for KKV and that it is demanding a refund of over 900 million which is claimed to be misappropriated by officials in the OPM.

In 2008 during the National Youth Convention (NYCIV), the youth delegates complained directly to the Prime Minister of the poor design of the KKV program noting that most of the funds were being spent not directly reaching the youth with a tagline of “Kazi Kwa Vija Pesa Kwa Wazee” It was recommended that the design of the program be restructured in order to directly empower the Kenyan youth. The recommendations were never taken into account by the Office of the Prime Minister.

 

During the inaugural Prime Minister’s Round Table with the Youth in September of 2010, under the Youth Empowerment Thematic Focus, a specific recommendation was made to the effect that the impact of the KKV was not being achieved due to poor structure and implementation. It was recommended that the Program be restructured to accommodate both labour intensive as well as intellectual capacity of the many millions of graduates from both tertiary and other institutions of higher learning in the country.

 

While the program was expanded and largely involved the Private Sector, the office of the Prime Minister managed to rename the department to Kenya Youth Empowerment Program. No caution was taken to the re-designing and structure of the KKV Program implementation. The specific recommendation in the matrix of implementation has never been responded to.

 

The fact that there has been public outcry and a lot of advice given on how to restructure the KKV, it is disturbing that the bureaucracy in the Office of the Prime Minister has not been keen to redesigning the program for the public good.

 

It should be noted that KKV is the closest that Kenya has come to creating massive employment opportunities for the high numbers of the unemployed population in the Country. The Fact that advice to make the program work has not been taken, is a confirmation of the existence of an axis of evil in Government that is hell bent to continue enjoying youth disenfranchisement for short term political gains.

 

It is still not clear how much money has been misappropriated and how much has already been disbursed. NYSA will initiate the process to bring to the fore the facts in partnership with other key stakeholders. The process will immediately seek to have an audience with the Kenyan youth and the relevant Government agencies to get into the root of the matter under question.

 

Pending Issues on the Youth Enterprise Development Fund;

 

It should also be noted that there are many questions that are left unanswered on the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. There have been unconfirmed allegations of fictitious and non-existent youth groups being beneficiaries of the Fund with millions of shillings reported missing without financial returns. All this matters must now be put under investigation and the agenda of Youth Empowerment in Kenya brought to naught in order to deal with the unemployment issue once and for all.

 

Demands from the Youth of Kenya

 

The Youth of Kenya, demand the following from the office of the Prime Minister and the Coalition Government;

 

1. A comprehensive financial audit of KKV and YEDF conducted with the following details;

 

a. the total amount of money used,

b. the kinds of projects accomplished,

c. the number and names of youth beneficiaries and how much they have received

d. the impact of the program aggregated according to region and gender.

 

2. Immediate suspension of the Officers in charge of the Kenya Youth Empowerment Program (KYEP) in the office of the Prime Minister.

3. Independent investigations to immediately commence and the officers found culpable of the misappropriation of the KKV and YEDF funds be prosecuted.

4. Immediate suspension of any financial undertakings on the program until it is comprehensively redesigned through a team of experts with young people included through a competitive independent, public vetting process.

 

Leadership from the two Principles

 

The National Youth Sector Alliance calls upon the President and the Prime Minister to put aside all their assignments and directly attend to these issues. This is a clear picture of corruption and the Youth of Kenya demand for accountability on funds meant for them. Transparency MUST Prevail.

 

Signed for and on behalf of the National Youth Sector Alliance.

Emmanuel Dennis

Convener – NYSA

Statement from the World Bank on Kenya Youth Empowerment Project

Press Release No:2012/131/AFR

NAIROBI, October 25, 2011—On Sunday, October 23, 2011, the Sunday Nation published an article under the headline:  “World Bank cancels funding for Kazi Kwa Vijana over graft” (page 10).  In response to this and further media reports published on the program, the World Bank would like to share the following facts about the Kenya Youth Empowerment Project (KYEP) it finances:

The objective of KYEP is to support efforts of the Government of Kenya to increase access to youth-targeted temporary employment programs and to improve youth employability.  The project has three components: labor-intensive works and social services (US$43 million), coordinated by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM); private sector internships and training (US$15.5 million), managed by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA); and capacity-building and policy development (US$1.5 million), implemented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The KYEP became effective on August 18, 2010.  The first disbursement to the Government for Component 1, in the amount of US$9.3 million, took place on February 7, 2011.  This was subsequently allocated to six implementing line ministries to undertake public works for youth: the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Ministry of Regional Development Authorities, the Ministry of Roads, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, and the Ministry of Local Government, as well as to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to coordinate and monitor project activities.

In June 2011, the World Bank initiated a Financial Management Review of the KYEP.  This is a standard exercise undertaken for all World Bank-financed projects during implementation.  The working draft of the Financial Management Review stated that transactions totaling Ksh 33,061,925 required further validation or clarification from the Government to determine whether they were eligible to be paid out of KYEP funds. The World Bank will continue to work with OPM to review these transactions in the coming days, with a view to determining definitively whether they are or are not eligible for KYEP financing.

Meanwhile, the Government let the World Bank know on October 11 that it wished to cancel Component 1 of KYEP and reorient the resources to other activities aiming to raise youth employment in Kenya.  The remaining KYEP components, including support to the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, will continue, and performance to date under these components has been satisfactory.

Contacts: Peter Warutere, (254-20) 3226444 pwarutere@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/