YEN Grant scheme- NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote D'Ivoire)

The Youth Employment Network's (YEN) Competitive Grant Scheme is now accepting applications!

The scheme will support youth-led organizations in the Mano River Union (MRU) countries namely, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Grants of USD 2'000 to 50'000 will be awarded to innovative proposals chosen by a Selection Committee through an open, transparent, and competitive selection process.

The grant scheme will identify and support small scale, innovative projects with potential to provide employment opportunities for young people (aged 15 to 30) while allowing youth organizations to actively participate in development. Youth-led organizations have firsthand experience on the needs of young people but need financial and/or technical support to reach their goals. Furthermore, the scheme serves as a laboratory to test innovative projects, in order to gain insight and extract lessons learned to be shared with the broader development community for possible replication and up-scaling.

Projects should contribute to youth employment in any of the following areas:

• Community projects and services
• Transition from school to work
• Vocational training for young people
• Youth entrepreneurship
• Economic empowerment of young women

Youth-led organizations are encouraged to form partnerships with other actors such as private enterprises, NGOs, business associations, foundations, government agencies are encouraged. These partners can be local or come from abroad.
An information session will be held in each country in December (Monrovia and Freetown) and in January (Conakry and Abidjan).

Monrovia, Liberia:
Date: Wednesday December 10, 2008
Time: 9:00 to 1700
Venue: Liberia Chamber of Commerce, Capitol Hill, Monrovia
Regristration deadline: Monday December 8, 2008

Freetown, Sierra Leone:
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008,
Time: 9:00 to 5:00
Venue: Cabenda Hotel, Freetown 14 Signal Hill Road, Freetown
Regristration deadline: Friday December 12, 2008

Conakry and Abidjan: exact date and venue to be announced early January

The events will provide practical information on the application procedures and guidance on proposal design to meet the selection criteria of this Grant Scheme for representatives of eligible youth-led organizations. Pre-registration is required for the information events.

For more information please see the attached information note on the Competitive Grant Scheme. The deadline for receiving proposals is February 14th, 2009. Please visit our website, www.ilo.org/yen for further information including the application form, guidelines, and registration for the information session.

En Francais: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/yen/whatwedo/projects/fr/cgs_fr.htm

Best wishes,
The Youth Employment Network (YEN)