Nominations Open for CEP’s Youth Civic Engagement Award (YCEA)

Deadline: 25 April 2019

USAID’s Civic Engagement Project (CEP) is currently inviting individuals, organizations, institutions, media, businesses and members of the community to nominate one or more people or organizations from one of the following categories: individual young men and women, informal youth groups, and youth civil society organizations (CSOs) to be considered for CEP’s Annual Youth Civic Engagement Award (YCEA).

CEP will award up to four Youth Civic Engagement Award (YCEA) to successful young men and women (aged 18 – 29), informal youth groups (consisting of at least three members), and youth CSOs that have demonstrated exemplary commitment to improving the life of their community or that of the society at large by undertaking actions that address issues of public concern at any level in North Macedonia. YCEA will be awarded for actions that the nominees have undertaken during January – December 2018.

YCEA will recognize initiatives by young men and women, informal youth groups, and youth CSOs that have demonstrated: a clear vision for improvements at the community, regional, or national level that are systemic and sustainable in addressing a priority societal and/or community concern; exceptional creativity, innovation, and leadership in defining and addressing issues of public concern; and have brought about tangible results in improving the community or society’s wellbeing due to the nominee’s actions.

Award Categories

CEP will award YCEA as follows:

Individual: up to two awards for young men and women (age 18 – 29).
Informal youth groups and/or youth CSOs: up to two awards.

Award Information

Upon award, YCEA winners will be awarded grants to support the advancement of their civic engagement work. To that end, they will be invited to submit a brief concept paper that outlines their actual goals and needs. The grants will be:

Up to $1,500 for Individual YCEA category;
Up to $3,000 for Informal youth groups and/or youth CSOs YCEA category.

Eligibility Criteria

The young men and women and informal youth group members nominated for YCEA should:
- Be citizens of North Macedonia.
- Have been 18 to 29 years old by December 31, 2018.
- Have performed the work or services for which they are being nominated, within the Republic of North Macedonia at local, regional, or national level.
- Demonstrate that they have been fundamental or integral part to the conveyance of the action, i.e., it is unlikely that the activities would have occurred without their participation.
Youth CSOs legally registered in North Macedonia should:
- Be a Macedonian CSO, meaning that it is managed by a governing body the simple majority of which are citizens or lawful permanent residents of North Macedonia.
- Have at least two years of operational experience.
- Must not be a debtor of the Government of North Macedonia and must have cancelled any debt to the state or arranged for debt collection by the state prior to receiving the first disbursement of grant funds by the Project.
- Must operate as an independent non-politically affiliated organization.
- Must not be debarred, suspended, excluded or otherwise ineligible to receive US government funding.
Civil servants, political appointees, members of the current parliament, staff of public broadcasting companies, and/or leaders of political parties cannot be nominated for YCEA.
The number of YCEAs available is strictly limited and therefore, however valuable their engagement, not everyone can receive recognition. It is important to realize that an award will not automatically be granted following a submission of nomination.