YOUNG CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME (YCSLP)
Want your next opportunity to leave this spark in your eyes?
Deadline FOR APPLICATIONS: 31st August 2025 (23:59 CET)
Register here to join the Info-session: 28 July 2025 at 12:00 pm CET
Check PDF version of the call here (link)
Overview
The Young Civil Society Leadership Programme (YCSLP), part of the Med Dialogue for Rights and Equality II, funded by the EU via the Directorate-General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf (DG MENA), led by DAI Global Belgium (DAI), and implemented by the Anna Lindh Foundation, ALF, is launching a call to engage 27 young Mediterranean leaders for its third cohort. The Programme focuses on improving the skills of civil society young leaders who show potential in policymaking, policy dialogue and advocacy.
Thematic focus of this third cycle will be fostering opportunities for “Inclusive Growth and Job Creation for social impact” through the promotion of social and economic development.
The ultimate goal is identifying, building the capacity, and nurturing the establishment of a network of highly skilled and empowered youth leaders in ten EU Southern Neighbourhood countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Israel, and Syria).
Benefits
- A tailored youth empowerment programme that will run over 9 months that includes interactive physical and online activities
- Connecting to a network of young civil society leaders and clustering with peers and experts from the Southern Mediterranean region
- Appropriate financial and technical assistance of 1.400 euro to implement concrete community-based actions promoting Inclusive Job Creation
- Exemplary participants will have the opportunity to participate in relevant platforms and events within the Euro-Med region
Commitments
– Actively participate in comprehensive capacity enhancement and technical assistance programme including online trainings, mentoring sessions and interactive work groups clusters in a physical bootcamp
– Propose, develop and implement a community-based action related to the Programme’s thematic focus
– Actively contribute to the programme’s value chain networking and peer to peer exchange of knowledge
– Properly deliver the proofs of implementation and any other elements as per the contract which will be signed with ALF
Theme Rationale
The Southern Euro-Mediterranean region is grappling with talent retention, particularly among the youth.
Throughout the 10 countries of the Programme’s focused region, the situation of job creation and the inclusive growth is aggravated by the increasing rates of population coupled with a scarcity of decent work opportunities, resulting in high unemployment rates among young people.
Limited career prospects drive young talent to consider migration, leading them to relocate to other cities or choose emigration for opportunities in different countries. The drain of these capacities leads to wasting of the fresh perspectives and the innovative alternatives for work opportunities that these young minds can bring to their local economies.
In that view, this third cycle of the YCSLP promotes talents retention by encouraging young civil society leaders to propose ideas for taking action toward inclusive economic growth that not only addresses unemployment but also creates opportunities with broader social impact.
Proposed key actions
Applicants are encouraged to think creatively and propose actions in the following general areas of intervention:
Key action 1: Supporting the transition toward more circular and resilient local economy
Key action 2: Introducing actions that trigger multiplication/creation of inclusive job opportunities and enabling start-ups to be launched from home
Key action 3: Promoting actions of Research and Innovation (R&I)
Check PDF version of the call here (link)
Programme phases
Ideation/project design
Following the online capacity enhancement, the objective of this phase is to trigger the inspiration of young leaders and provide them with the mentorship and the assistance they need to fine-tune their ideas for community-based actions to ensure that they are pertinent, contextualised and feasible. The ideation also aims at supporting young leaders to identify potential networking synergies.
Capacity enhancement
The selected Civil Society young leaders will benefit from the organization of online capacity enhancement capsules to provide participants with the knowledge and the skills needed to improve the proposed concepts in terms of plan, frame, and implement their community-based actions. This phase will be conducted through the tuition of 4 training modules, organized in the form of online sessions, with a duration of 3 hours each.
Community building bootcamp
With the guidance of facilitators, mentors and key experts this 4-day face-to-face cluster will provide a shared space to support finalising the formulation of the community-based actions and to identify joint plans with the aim to promote synergies and complementarities among the initiatives proposed by the different participants. Upon the completion of this phase, ALF will formalize a written agreement with the young leaders to regulate the terms for the deliverance of their community-based actions.
Implementing of community-based actions
In this phase, the participants will have the opportunity to apply in practice the elements learned so far by implementing community-based actions. It will allow young leaders take further the knowledge, skills, and ideas developed during the Programme and drive meaningful change. The community-based actions that were agreed should be implemented within a specific timeframe (from 1 to 3 months).
Who can apply
Candidates submitting their application through this call must be:
- Nationals of: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, Israel, and Syria
- Between 18 and 35 years old
- Actively involved in civil society organizations and volunteering work with demonstrated commitment to their community
- Fluency in writing and speaking in English language
Candidates should meet the following criteria:
- Have a good record of civic engagement, advocacy and policy dialogue
- Deem relevant expertise in one or more of the focused areas of intervention
- Be able to conceive a proposal for a community-based action to be carried out in their territories
- Being part of a formal or informal civil society organization (CSO), as staff, volunteer, intern, or any other type of engagement, will be considered an advantage. Please state it clearly, when applying
Selection process
Preselection: The applications will be screened based on a set of pre-established criteria such as relevance, feasibility, originality, and potential impact. 54 applicants will be shortlisted and will be invited to an Orientation and bilateral meetings.
Orientation and bilateral meetings: The shortlisted applicants will participate in a guiding session that should help them to fine tune their initially submitted applications. Following the orientation, a 15-minute bilateral meeting will take place as a result of which participants would have the opportunity to elaborate further their suitability in the context of the YSCLP. The 54 participants should resubmit their refined applications in view of the information they are going to receive during the orientation.
Final Selection: Based on the quality and originality of the submitted applications, a final selection of 27 applicants will be made by the Programme’s evaluation committee.
How to apply
Interested applicants with innovative ideas for community-based actions relevant to the Programme’s thematic focus and who are meeting the criteria detailed in the ‘Who can apply’ section are encouraged to submit their applications via the below apply now button before 31 August 2025 at midnight Central European Time (CET)
Only complete applications, submitted in English before the deadline will be considered. Due to the high volume of applications only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. In case of technical problems or questions related to the call, please contact: ycslp@alfsecretariat.org
Indicative Timeline
15 July 2025 Launch of the call
28 July 2025 Online information session
31 August 2025 Deadline to receive applications
24 September 2025 Notification of 54 pre-selected applicants
28 September 2025 Orientation (Guidance to support refining initially submitted concepts)
29-30 September 2025 Bilateral meetings with participants
5 October 2025 Deadline for submitting the revised concept notes
10 October 2025 Publication of the final selection results (27 applicants)
Late October 2025 Capacity enhancement
November 2025 Ideation
January 2026 Community building Bootcamp (Location TBD)
February – April 2026 Rollout of Community-based actions
May 2026 Closure