The Central America Youth Fund focusing on Projects for Young Women

Deadline: 29 July 2014

Are you based in one of the following countries of Central America – Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico? Does your organization have Women and girls as one of the program areas? Do you have a project focusing on adolescent/youth sexual and reproductive health and rights? And/or a project focusing on girl’s (under age 18) equality? The Seattle International Foundation (SIF) invites Expression of Interest (EOI) from local young adult led organizations working on projects basically focused on young women. The young adult leaders aged 18 to 35 years in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico are invited to apply for the Central America Youth Fund (CAYF).

The CAYF is concerned about the challenges faced by young people in Central America, particularly women. High adolescent fertility rates, low secondary school completion, child marriage/early unions for girls, discriminatory gender attitudes and behaviors, and inadequate provision of reproductive health services and comprehensive sexuality education in schools are primary focus of the CAYF.

The CAYF will award four to six One year grants of up to US$35,000 each under this call. These young adult leaders will implement innovative projects designed to demonstrate measurable impacts on girls’ equality and/or adolescent/youth sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Key Dates

29 July 2014 – Expression of Interest (EOI) submission deadline
4 August 2014 – Application Status notification deadline
18 August 2014 – Full proposals submission deadline
Early October 2014 – Full proposal status notification
October 2014 – Projects Commencement

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must be NGOs based in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, or Quintana Roo, Mexico; especially local but applications from foreign NGO affiliates are also considered.
NGOs can be led by young adults (18-35 years of age) or by old persons are eligible.
The applicant organization must be either legally registered in the local country and have a bank account that is capable of receiving international wire transfers or should designate such NGO to serve as the project’s fiscal agent (fiscal donor).
The applicant organization must have a mission and programming already aligned to the mission of the grant to demonstrate that organizational commitment is likely to go beyond the grant.
Proposed projects must be led by a young leader who is 18 to 35 years old during the entire Year 1 project period (October 2014 – September 2015).
Proposed projects must focus on one or both of the following – adolescent/youth sexual and reproductive health and rights; and girl’s (under age 18) equality.
Priority is given to projects that prioritize reaching low-income, underserved young people in a specific geographic area where there is greater marginalization and fewer resources.

To Apply