Youth Solidarity Fund – Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Youth Solidarity Fund, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, New York, NY, USA. Deadline: 15 August 2025.

The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) invites youth-led organizations from eligible countries to apply for the 11th edition of the Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF). YSF supports projects that promote peace and social inclusion by enhancing mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration across borders, cultures, faiths, and beliefs.

YSF provides seed funding of up to USD 25,000 to implement impactful youth-led projects that advance intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and are aligned with the mandate and mission of UNAOC. To qualify, projects must be entirely developed and managed by young people for the benefit of society, especially youth.

Established in 2008, YSF was launched in response to the calls of young civil society leaders advocating for sustainable funding mechanisms to support their efforts on the ground. The Fund is tailored specifically to youth-led organizations and has, to date, invested a total of $2.59 million to support 80 youth-led projects in 43 countries, positively impacting more than 3.4 million beneficiaries worldwide.

Now in its eleventh edition, YSF continues its comprehensive support to youth-led organizations, with a particular focus on the role of young people in promoting cultural and religious pluralism, peace and mutual respect, preventing violent extremism when and as conducive to terrorism, addressing the increased stigma and discrimination, fostering respect for different religions and cultures, as well as tackling the root causes of polarization and identity-based conflicts. Through this support, UNAOC helps implement key global policy frameworks by fostering meaningful youth engagement in building peaceful and inclusive societies.

Youth Solidarity Fund, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, New York, NY, USA. Deadline: 14 May 2023.

Through a competitive evaluation process, Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF) will award seed funding of up to USD 25,000 for the implementation of outstanding and impactful projects that use intercultural and interfaith dialogue and are aligned with the mandate and mission of UNAOC. The YSF only supports projects that are entirely developed and managed by youth, for the benefit of the whole society, especially youth. The YSF supports youth-led organizations that foster peaceful and inclusive societies. UNAOC additionally offers capacity-building support to help youth-led organizations strengthen the implementation of their projects.

The age definition used by UNAOC to characterize youth is an individual between the ages of 18 and 35. While the projects target mainly young people, they have an impact on entire communities, often involving religious or political leaders, policy-makers, educational institutions and media organizations.