Deadline: 28-Jul-23

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) are now inviting youth led not for profit organizations to propose new and innovative green ideas and solutions that will support training processes for young people living in post-crisis situations.

To assist young people in further translating their activism, commitment and creativity into action, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have designed the “IsDB-ILO Green Skills Accelerator Challenge Call”, with the overarching goal of promoting youth participation and skills for green jobs for a just transition.

Goals

• In this regard, the scope of this year’s challenge call – “From Crises to Resilience: Empowering Youth for a Greener Future” – seeks to identify skilling solutions for post-crisis situations to build back better and greener. Proposed solutions should be reaching out effectively to individuals whose lives have been affected by crises with upskilling programmes adapted to their needs, that allow them to re-engage effectively in local labour markets, reconnect with their communities, and improve their resilience.
• Solutions should also be an opportunity to build back not only better but also greener. Transitioning towards environmental sustainability can potentially create millions of jobs globally. A Just Transition towards an environmentally sustainable economy requires reskilling and upskilling of workers to reduce the risk of rising unemployment, poverty, and inequality. This is particularly true in a post-crisis situation.
• In line with the first edition of the Youth Green Skills Accelerator Challenge Call, the objective of this year’s second edition is to identify, incubate, test, and disseminate innovative solutions in IsDB-ILO common member states.
• The IsDB-ILO Challenge Call will leverage the infrastructure and experience of the ILO Skills Innovation Facility, and seeks to achieve the following goals:
  • Recognise the key role that young people play as agents of change to accelerate action towards a just transition, especially in crisis contexts.
  • Enhance young people’s capabilities by offering the knowledge and skills they will need in a greener post-crisis economy.
  • Accelerate innovation around youth employment and green skills in crisis contexts by providing innovators a network of experts from IsDB and ILO to support and implement their ideas and solutions.

Prizes and Benefits

• Three winners will be selected at an online pitch event and receive the following support:
  • Financial Support: The ideas coming in the first, second, and third places will be awarded USD 50,000; USD 30,000; and USD 20,000 respectively, to implement their proposed solutions.
  • Technical guidance in the form of an online Skills Innovation Lab: The winning proposals will receive technical support to refine, develop, and pilot their ideas through boot camps and remote mentoring.
  • Global visibility: The winners will receive support to raise awareness about their ideas and solutions, including an invitation to an international event where they will present their projects, press articles in the media, and videos, among others. This event may be in-person or online.
  • Access to a wide network of experts in skills development: The winners (and finalists) will join the ILO Skills Innovation Network. They will get access to tools, resources, and knowledgesharing events that they can use to build new ideas and solutions

What are they looking for?

• The IsDB and ILO, in this second edition of the Youth Green Skills Accelerator Challenge Call, are looking for not-for-profit education and training providers (including public TVET institutions and youth-led organizations) that support training for young people (15-35 years old) living in IsDB-ILO common member states and the occupied Palestinian territory.
• They should focus on green skills development and training support in post-crisis situations for:
  • Young people to be entering or re-entering education or the local labour market.
  • Promoting social cohesion and peaceful co-existence at the local level.
  • Building back greener in post-crisis countries/settings.
  • Enhancing countries’/communities’ social and economic resilience.
• All proposals should be, as appropriate given local circumstances and the crisis context, in line with the following main recommendations in relation to Education, Vocational Training and Guidance (Chapter VI, Articles 18 to 20) on Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205):
  • Ensuring education and training continuity.
  • Establishing programmes that respond to emerging skills needs for recovery and reconstruction.
  • Organising re-entry in education and training, adapting, and extending these programmes to fit the learners’ needs, and establishing second-chance education and training opportunities.
  • Giving special attention to the training and economic empowerment of affected populations, displaced populations, those in rural areas and in the informal economy.
  • Ensuring women and girls can access education and training based on equal opportunity and treatment.
  • Adapting learning to promote peaceful co-existence and reconciliation.
  • Mainstreaming disaster risk education, reduction, awareness and management in education and training.
• The proposal should have an innovative dimension including – i.e., innovative training approaches, projects, tools, technologies, and partnerships in the areas of formal informal, and nonformal apprenticeships upgrading and work-based learning; entrepreneurship; training delivery; data and analysis for skills development; Recognition of Prior Learning among others. They can be at any stage of development. They can be early-stage innovations or at a more advanced stage. They can be ideas to improve, expand and/or promote a solution that is already being implemented. They can be the idea of a single organization or involve a joint collaborative effort of different actors, including through partnerships with governments, employers’, and workers’ organizations. Each organization can only be part of a single consortium presenting a solution and can only apply once.
• The challenge call welcomes skilling related proposals that contribute to sustainable practices and green solutions. Examples may include developing training programmes that equip individuals with green skills for environmentally friendly careers, such as renewable energy technicians, sustainable agriculture specialists, or green construction workers. Additionally, initiatives related to community gardening, renewable energy installation, energy-efficient and circular production technologies, waste management are encouraged. Proposals that could involve reforestation, renewable energy installations, and sustainable tourism skills are also eligible. Furthermore, solutions addressing environmental conservation and biodiversity, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and resilient design principles in post-crisis are highly valued.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant must meet the following criteria:
  • Legally registered not-for-profit organizations – these can include government agencies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, cooperatives, education, and training institutions (including public TVET institutions, schools, training providers, and universities), NGOs and civil society organizations, and other educational and research institutions.
  • The applicant must be registered in an IsDB-ILO common member state or in the occupied Palestinian territory. The applicant will be required to submit proof of their legal registration.
  • The applicant must have contractual capacity and have been in existence for at least two calendar years before the deadline of the submission for applications.
  • The applicant must provide a detailed budget and indicate a contribution from the proposing organization corresponding to at least 10 percent of the value of the proposal, which can be represented by in-kind or staff costs.
  • The solution answers one or more of the questions of the challenge listed under the “target scope”.
• The IsDB and ILO reserve the right to carry out reasonable due diligence, including contacting references provided and other third parties to confirm the eligibility of participants, and may refuse to award the grant to a participant if there is suspicion of any irregularity, fraudulent activities, etc.

For more information, visit ILO.