Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge 2019/20 launched today

6 minutes

The Youth Challenge is part of Generation Unlimited – a multi-sector public-private global partnership enabling the largest generation of young people in history to become productive and engaged members of society.
 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 24 September 2019 – Co-hosted globally by four Generation Unlimited partners – UNICEF, UNDP, Plan International and the World Organization of the Scout Movement, with support from Irish Aid – the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge 2019/20 launched today and will take place in 40 countries worldwide. The challenge calls on young innovators to design solutions to improve education, employment and civic engagement.
 
It aims to inspire young people with brilliant ideas, but without the resources to bring them to life. This includes young refugees, those who face daily discrimination due to their ethnicity, their gender or their disability and those who are disadvantaged by poverty.
 
A call for applications will be launched in each of the 40 participating countries in the coming weeks and successful applicants will be invited to take part in design workshops. Following these workshops, the five most promising ideas from each country will be selected and awarded USD 1,000 each in funding and provided with mentoring to support the projects’ implementation. Then, in June 2020, the most promising solutions from each country will be submitted to a global judging process. These projects will receive further funding of up to $20,000, along with a tailored global incubation programme from Generation Unlimited partners to support them to scale.
 
The most promising ideas will contribute to the success of Generation Unlimited, an ambitious multi-sector public-private global partnership meant to meet the urgent needs for expanded education, training and employment opportunities for young people on an unprecedented scale.

 

 

Notes to Editors:
Generation Unlimited: Generation Unlimited is global partnership working to prepare young people to become productive and engaged citizens. It connects secondary-age education and training to employment and entrepreneurship, empowering every young person to thrive in the world of work.

UNICEF: UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.

UNDP: UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

Plan International: Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years and are now active in more than 75 countries.

World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM): Scouting is the world’s leading educational youth movement, engaging millions of young people to be active citizens and create positive change in their communities. The World Scout Movement is made up of more than 50 million Scouts connected together through a global membership of 170 National Scout Organizations.
 
For more information, please contact:

Katherine Crisp (UNICEF): kcrisp@unicef.org
Sangita Khadka (UNDP): sangita.khadka@undp.org
Susannah Birkwood (Plan International): susannah.birkwood@plan-international.org
Farah Sayegh (WOSM): farah.sayegh@scout.org