• التبادلات بين الثقافات وبين الأديان
• تدريب الشباب على القيادة
• الأصوات الشبابية في الإعلام

Following the recommendation by the High Level Group to make youth a priority area of action, the Alliance of Civilizations established the Youth Solidarity Fund to support youth-led projects addressing areas of primary concern to the UNAoC, i.e. fostering mutual respect, understanding and long-term positive relationships between peoples of different cultures and religions.

The establishment of the Youth Solidarity Fund attempts to answer the calls to action from youth organizations and networks made around the world during 2006 and 2007 related to UNAoC thematic areas.

→ The 2009 call for applications is now CLOSED. Results will be made public in November.

Pilot phase

A pilot phase for the Youth Solidarity Fund was launched in January 2008. During this application period, over 110 proposals came from a total of 55 countries from all continents. The following six outstanding projects were identified as winners and received grants ranging between $10,000 and $20,000, for a total of $100,000:

Speaking and Listening with Respect: Students, Faith, and Dialogue
International Movement of Catholic Students – Pax Romana (International)
IMCS-Pax Romana brings together over 80 national federations of Catholic university students from all over the world in order to contribute to empowering the student milieu by helping students get involved as social actors in the university and in the world. Their project will gather Catholic and Muslim students from selected countries for a training session that focuses on promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation.

The Role of Youth as Citizens in the Construction of an Intercultural Society
Argentinean Youth Organization for the United Nations (Argentina)
The Argentinean Youth Organization for the United Nations is a pluralist NGO created and directed by young people committed to human development. Their project aims to build and strengthen relationships between young people from Latin-America and Africa. By promoting a South-to-South Youth Network and offering a 7-day training seminar to build partnerships, encourage peer-to-peer sharing and enhance dialogue skills on intercultural issues, this project will encourage the development and application of values, knowledge and skills that promote and reinforce beneficial and long-lasting intercultural projects.

God and Me
No Ghetto/Respect magazine (France)
No Ghetto is an international interactive web magazine launched in January 2008 with the support of Unesco. This project will allow No Ghetto to collect and publish testimonies about religion, spirituality, dogmas and traditions from youth from diverse backgrounds, particularly from disadvantaged areas and communities that suffer misrepresentation and discrimination.

Capacity Building for Youth Leaders of Religious and Traditional Groups on Tolerance and Cultural Diversity for Sustained Peace and Development in Ghana
Federation of Youth Clubs (Ghana)
The Federation of Youth Clubs is a non-governmental umbrella group of 150 Youth Clubs and organizations with headquarters in Accra, Ghana. Their project aim is to build the capacity of 30 young leaders from youth organizations and clubs in Christian, Muslim and Traditional religious areas of the greater Accra region, by bringing them together for a workshop promoting diversity, conflict prevention, human rights, tolerance as well as strengthening the relationships between youths from regions prone to cultural violence.

Capacity Building for Youth Leaders and Strengthening Youth Networking for Peace Building
Generation Peace Youth Network (Philippines)
GenPeace is a network of organizations and individuals committed to youth-led advocacy for a just and sustainable peace in the Philippines. Their project will allow the delivery of a series of youth leadership training sessions on peace and human rights in Mindanao, in the Southern region of the Philippines.  The project aims to increase the capacity of youth leaders and to connect different Muslim, Christian and Indigenous youth organizations for a more consolidated youth peace advocacy in the Philippines.

Interethnic Youth Alliance
Cultural Center DamaD (Serbia)
Cultural Centre DamaD is a non-governmental organization whose mission is affirmation of a culture of dialogue and of human rights through creative work in the local community and beyond. Their project focuses on youth from 7 towns of multiethnic and multireligious Sandzak region of southwest Serbia and aims to contribute to empowering them with leadership skills to be used in addressing local community issues that are directly affecting them.

From July 2008 to April 2009, youth organizations implemented their winning projects.  These youth organizations reported on the results of their projects at the Alliance of Civilizations Second Annual Forum in Istanbul, Turkey. A detailed report of these projects’ results will be available in the second half of 2009.