The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that their collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and the world’s six largest youth organizations will support the ideas and initiative of young people in communities that have been impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release.
From Monday young people around the globe will be able to apply for funding to support the solutions that address the impact of the pandemic as part of a new initiative called the Global Youth Mobilization which will be supported by UNICEF, USAID, UNFPA, European Commission, Salesforce, FIFA and Heads of State and Governments from around the world.
The impact of the pandemic on young people to be addressed at the Global Youth Summit held virtually on 23-25 April, where they will decide where the money goes and how it is spent and it will also mark the starting point for young people to get involved in the mobilization.
The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, climate change activist Greta Thunberg and youth representatives from the Global Youth Mobilization will launch the call for applications at a press conference on Monday 19 April 2021 at 1700 CEST.
WHO said that the Global Youth Mobilization will support young people to overcome the challenges created by the pandemic with an initial $2 million of funding, available in four tiers, from $500 through to $5,000 and that an accelerator program will scale and replicate the most promising solutions with further funding lined up over the coming months.
Young people and community organizations are able to apply for funding through one centralised platform that will be available in multiple languages.
“WHO is committed to ensuring the voices, energy and solutions offered by youth are at the centre of the world’s recovery from COVID-19. Our collaboration with the Big 6 and the United Nations Foundation will fuel wide-ranging actions led by young people to address the challenges their own communities face, and will also provide global platforms for their wisdom and ideas to be heard and acted on,” said Dr Ghebreyesus.
The mobilization is being supported by Governments, UN agencies and Royal Families including, the Queen of Malaysia, the President of Kenya, President of Ghana, the Vice President of Nigeria, the Government of Fiji, the Prime Minister of Belgium, the Government of Singapore as well as the European Commission, USAID, UNICEF and UN Population Fund and further Government support, will be announced at the Global Youth Summit.
The Global Youth Summit will feature youth activists from hundreds of countries and will be available to anyone, via broadcast and in five core languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian.