This August, as we celebrate International Youth Day, we call on all donors to commit to sustainably resourcing youth-led action.

Only an estimated 16 percent of global human rights funding focuses on children and youth, and much of that funding likely never reaches youth activists. In a 2016 report about youth peacebuilding, 49 percent of surveyed youth-led organisations shared that they had operating budgets of less than $5,000 USD per year. In Restless Development’s 2022 State of Youth Civil Society Report, almost 75 percent of the youth organisations surveyed faced funding cuts during the pandemic that significantly impacted their ability to influence social change.

To amplify youth-led change, make your funding as accessible as possible.

Anne Muthoni

Youth face numerous barriers to accessing resources. One immediate step you can take is to simplify applications so they are easier and less time-consuming to navigate for activists, who are often not earning a salary. Provide examples of what you fund and avoid jargon. At the same time, do not assume youth applicants are not qualified if they do not use technical language. It’s also important to share your funding opportunities widely and creatively to reach diverse youth-led initiatives.

Funders should work toward enabling unregistered groups and individual activists to receive funding. Often, youth-led groups lack the financial resources or legal knowledge to pursue registration. Some have security concerns due to their government or prefer not to formalize to stay true to their vision for community-led change. If your foundation status limits funding unregistered groups, work with global or regional intermediaries who can more nimbly move resources. Offer financial and non-financial support to youth-led groups who want to pursue legal registration.

Donors need to foster a safe learning environment for the youth-driven PGM process through the use of co-developed principles and guidelines on ways of working, decision-making, and conflict resolution.

Don’t forget to take a closer look at your reporting requirements. Ensure they are clear and transparent when groups are applying for funding. Some groups will not apply if reporting requirements seem cumbersome. Consider how you can shift from reporting to shared learning.

Make space for youth to be decision-makers in philanthropy.

Vanessa Stevens

Youth have the right to make decisions regarding resources for change in their communities. But oftentimes funders only give participatory grantmaking (PGM) opportunities to digitally privileged youth. Donors need to move closer to directly impacted communities and invest in approaches that engage youth from marginalized settings, including young people with disabilities.

Involving youth changemakers in remote areas requires creativity and resources to counter language barriers and mitigate internet connectivity issues as well as data-related costs. Participating in grantmaking costs time, money, and other resources. Young people are experts in their areas of work, and when called upon to become part of a PGM process, they deserve to get compensated for their time and expertise.

Lastly, donors need to foster a safe learning environment for the youth-driven PGM process through the use of co-developed principles and guidelines on ways of working, decision-making, and conflict resolution. The PGM process should also aim to shift power to the young people involved, allowing them to not only influence the process but also the outcome. Beyond PGM, funders should engage youth as consultants, staff, and board members or create youth councils or advisory boards to enable youth to continue influencing grantmaking decisions.

Re-imagine grants and capacity development.

The sustainability of youth-led action is a significant challenge, in part because many grants are small and one-off. Some donors are increasing the amount of funding going to youth-led initiatives with larger grants over multiple years, however. For example, Global Fund for Children created the participatory Spark Fund in which many youth-led grantees receive up to $24,000 in flexible grant funding over two years as well as access to emergency grants and funding for training and other opportunities. Initially, a pilot supported by Avast, the Spark Fund is now a pooled fund launching new rounds focused on climate justice and mental health based on young people’s priorities.

Non-financial support is equally important. Youth-led organisations want holistic support that includes capacity development tailored to their goals and that mirrors the diversity of youth civil society. For example, some groups will remain youth-led, while others will evolve as their leadership ages. Some embrace collective or feminist leadership and face countless threats to their movements. In a recent CIVICUS Grassroots Solidarity Revolution survey of 140 grassroots activists, 19 per cent shared that they have difficulty finding funders willing to support “less traditional” ways of working. This finding makes a strong case for donors to trust emergent practices by youth-led groups and embrace learning and risk. Capacity development must also value mental health and wellbeing, a need illustrated by the fact that 36 per cent of youth activists have faced adverse mental health effects, according to their responses in Restless Development’s State of Youth Civil Society Report 2023.

Youth-led organisations want holistic support that includes capacity development tailored to their goals and that mirrors the diversity of youth civil society.

This month, in honor of International Youth Day, commit to taking steps so you can be the first funder of a youth-led organisation. Let funding youth-led action be the norm rather than the exception and a strategic priority instead of an afterthought.

We recognize and applaud the few bold donors who have invested in youth-led action through various trust-based and PGM approaches. Learn more from FRIDA the Young Feminist Fund, Purposeful’s With and For Girls Fund, Global Fund for Children’s Spark Fund, and the Fund for Global Human Rights’ Tar Kura initiative. We encourage funders to explore Elevate Children Funders Group’s (ECFG) Weaving A Collective Tapestry: A Funders’ Toolkit for Child and Youth Participation and to join the new learning institute What’s Possible piloted by the Children’s Rights Innovation Fund, We Trust You(th), and ECFG.

Young people are on the frontlines of social, economic, and climate justice, and funders should give them their overdue recognition by amplifying their power and resources to create change.

Anne Muthoni is an experienced participatory grantmaker, passionate about climate justice and youth-led advocacy who also works to strengthen the mental health of refugees in Kenya as an MPHSS associate with HIAS.

Vanessa Stevens is Director of Innovation and Influencing at Global Fund for Children.