Call for Proposals: Boosting Decent Employment for Africa’s Youth

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Dutch Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies, and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have launched a call for concept notes for research to boost decent employment for young African men and women.

The call supports action-oriented research that will help design effective and innovative interventions to develop soft skills and digital skills among youth and offer apprenticeships and mentorships in Africa.

Nested within the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, the call aims to provide key insights, practical guidance, and tools to policymakers and practitioners to help realize aspirations for large-scale positive change.

Applicants can visit the funding page for more detailed information and to access the full call for proposals and submission guidelines to submit their proposal by October 8, 2018. 

Eligibility

The call is open to applicants from research-focused organizations, academia, research institutions, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations around the world. However, the applicant must have a strong presence in sub-Saharan Africa or a partnership with a sub-Saharan-based institution.

Objectives and Scope

This Call is part a multi-funder research initiative on Boosting Decent Employment for Africa’s Youth, aimed at providing key insights, practical guidance, and tools to policy makers and practitioners to help realize aspirations for large-scale positive change.

The research initiative is positioned within the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, the overarching and inclusive effort endorsed by the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination to scale up country-level action and impact on youth employment under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This call aims to:

• Strengthen the evidence base on sustainable and effective learning, skills development and market linkages, and active labour market measures to boost economic opportunities that facilitate the transition of youth into decent work.
• Foster learning and sharing of experiences through multi-stakeholder dialogue within and across countries.
• Provide opportunities for young people to actively engage in knowledge generation, policy dialogue, and initiatives that enhance their employability. 

Priority research themes

The current call focuses on two themes:

• Theme 1: Soft skills and digital jobs for youth
• Theme 2: Effective approaches to foster work-based learning programs and mentorship. 

Application guidelines are found here

This announcement is reproduced as shared by The Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth