Deadline: 08-Sep-2025
UNICEF Kyrgyzstan has launched a call for expressions of interest from capable and creative civil society organizations (CSOs) to implement an initiative focused on strengthening youth participation and collective advocacy across the country.
The focus areas of the initiative include gender equality and women empowerment, monitoring and evaluation, training, capacity building and capacity development, and youth leadership and participation.
The initiative has two major components. The first component aims to engage youth-led and youth-oriented organizations in designing and rolling out campaigns on issues of concern for young people. Building on the STEM4Girls platform, this component will be implemented in 45 schools across Osh city, Nookat, Bishkek city, Kochkor, Atbashy, Kyzyl-Kiya, Suzak, and Talas. Youth groups will be supported to strengthen skills in critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, and advocacy. These groups will identify five campaign topics, conduct research, and generate media and communication products for peer and community engagement. The project will form a coalition of 45 youth groups and 45 school-based movements to collaborate and deliver joint solutions through media products, events, dialogues, and digital platforms.
The second component focuses on child participation under the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It seeks to co-develop and test a participatory, child-friendly methodology enabling children and youth to produce an alternative report on the CRC’s implementation in Kyrgyzstan. This will involve at least two locations, engaging 30 young people to apply the methodology and provide feedback. The initiative is part of the EU-funded project “Youth Rising: Kyrgyzstan’s Change Makers,” which emphasizes meaningful youth involvement in child rights monitoring and advocacy.
The expected results under Component 1 include training at least 225 youth (with at least 60% girls), producing youth-led media campaigns, collaborating with bloggers and influencers, and strengthening youth engagement through campaigns and events. Under Component 2, CSOs will co-design and test the CRC methodology, train 30 young people, and document the entire process for scalability.
The initiative has an indicative budget of USD 200,000. Organizations applying should have at least three years of experience in youth programming, capacity in media and digital literacy, community presence in target areas, and expertise in child rights and participatory approaches. Selection criteria will be based on cost effectiveness, sector expertise, clarity of activities and expected results, and local experience and presence.
Applications must be submitted by September 8, 2025, with projects starting October 1, 2025, and ending August 31, 2027.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.
