Deadline: 20-Apr-25
The Migration Youth and Children Platform is thrilled to invite applications for its Youth Leadership & Innovation Award for Migration to empower and support young leaders who are actively driving innovative solutions to migration challenges.
Objectives
- Provide seed funding to escalate youth innovative initiatives working on climate mobility, diaspora contributions, and access to services.
- Strengthen the capacities of young leaders, including young migrants, refugees and members of host communities.
- Elevate the voices of young leaders in global scenarios such as the Global Migration Forum on Development (GFMD).
- Serves as a starting point for future partnerships between young leaders and key GFMD stakeholders.
Focus Areas
- The 3rd Youth Leadership and Innovation Award for Migration invites youth under 31 to submit their innovative existing solutions in the following areas:
- Championing vulnerable communities on the move: This category highlights projects that empower key vulnerable groups – women, children, youth, and people with disabilities ensuring their full participation in migration processes and strengthening their contributions to global migration and development.
- Cultural and Digital Innovation for Narrative Transformation: This category celebrates initiatives that leverage the power of culture, media, and digital tools to shape the narrative around migration. Projects in this category should demonstrate how they leverage media, storytelling, or cultural approaches to reshape public perception and promote positive stories about migration.
- Creating Regular Migration Pathways for all: This category welcomes projects that leverage digital tools or technology to facilitate access to sustainable livelihoods and promote safe and regular migration pathways.
Benefits
- Mentorship, Capacity-Building & Training: Awardees participate in specialized workshops and training to strengthen their leadership, project management, and innovation skills.
- Recognition and Visibility: Winners gain recognition in global migration policy spaces, including at the GFMD 2025, where they present their projects and have the opportunity to influence international conversations on migration governance.
- Networking & Collaboration Opportunities: Winners are introduced to key GFMD stakeholders, opening doors to partnerships, funding opportunities, and policy engagement.
- The six finalists will be invited to the GFMD 5th Migration Youth Forum, GFMD Summit, and have the chance to present their ideas. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with all GFMD stakeholders, including governments, mayors, and representatives of the private sector and civil society.
- The final winner per category will receive seed funding and further mentorship support in the implementation or the refinement of their projects.
Eligibility Criteria
- Young people under 31 years of age and/or groups of people can apply, as long as one person is nominated as the primary applicant for the award. Only 1 person will be the main spokesperson for each initiative.
- The project needs to be led by the youth or have a significant leadership component of young people.
- The project should have been implemented/tested with a concrete level of success or impact and have possibilities for replication and/or scaling on regional, national, or international level.
- Primary users should be relevant actors around the issue of migration: migrants and diaspora themselves, governments and their services, employers, civil society organizations, and/or the host community.
For more information, visit MYCP.