Generation Unlimited Syria Youth Challenge
UNICEF and UNDP in Syria are organizing an innovative bootcamp for youth

تحدي الشباب (جيـل لا محدود) باللغة العربية
Have an idea of a product or service that will provide a solution to the challenges facing you, your family or community and Syria’s youth?
We have good news!
UNICEF and UNDP are organizing a joint innovative bootcamp as part of the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge from 6 to 9 February 2020.
What is the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge?
The Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge aims to identify solutions that can positively impact the lives of young people around the world.
Because we believe in ideas, projects and institutions that see young people as the basis of solutions the youth challenge will help young women and men identify and understand the challenges facing their age group.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are organizing a four-day bootcamp in February 2020, in which 15 teams will be selected to participate.
During the bootcamp, participants will learn how to develop their ideas to present them before a judging committee on the last day who will select five winning projects to receive seed funding and further develop their concepts.
In the following phase, two teams will be nominated to participate in the global Youth Challenge, competing with participating teams from 41 other countries for eight global positions and the opportunity to receive seed funding reaching up to US$20,000 to finance the launch of the winning projects.
Youth Challenge Syria:
The bootcamp, to be held from 6 to 9 February 2020, is a great opportunity to make your ideas come true, enabling you to:
- Develop your experience and professional skills;
- Face the social challenges that affect you and your peers and find solutions to them;
- Learn how to design and implement your ideas;
- Communicate and network with young people who share your interests, passions, and difficulties;
- Get a chance to be one of the five teams eligible for seed funding;
- And finally, the chance to participate in the global challenge.
How can I participate in the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge?
After forming a team (consisting of three to five members) and agreeing on the challenges you want to solve, click on the link below and answer the questions.
After answering all the questions click on the word “submit" to send the application.
To fill the application (in Arabic), press here
Time frame:
- Submission deadline: January 16, 2020
- Notification of qualified teams to the bootcamp: 23 January 2020
15 teams will be selected to participate in the bootcamp. Qualified teams will be notified through email or phone call.
- The training workshop will be held from 6 to 9 February 2020 in Damascus (location to be announced).
During the bootcamp, all participating teams will be provided with the needed training to develop their skills. From those, five winning teams will be selected at the level of the Syria Youth Challenge andprovided with the necessary seed funding, guidance, mentorship and follow-up meetings to develop their ideas and pilot them.
What are the conditions for participating in the challenge?
- Your team must include at least three participants, including yourself,and no more than five (including both male and female participants);
- Participants must be currently residing in the Syrian Arab Republic;
- Qualified teams need to be teams that are starting work on a new idea or project.
For the Youth Challenge, young people cannot participate if:
- They have previously received funding to develop the same idea.
- They area registered company or a community organization.
- Each participant in your team must be between 14 and 24 years of age as of September 23, 2019. We also welcome diversity! We therefore welcome teams from different backgrounds and encourage the participation of girls, young people and young people with disabilities;
- Commitment to attend all the days of the bootcamp to be held in Damascus from 6 to 9 February 2020 (Transportation and accommodation costs will be covered by the organizers.);
- If you are selected for local seed funding, you must be able to commit to implementing your idea, which may last until at least July 2020;
- If you are selected for the international funding, you must be able to commit to implementing and launching the project.
Values of the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge
By youth to youth:
- Young people’s ideas and creativity are the cornerstone of this Challenge;
- Adults play a facilitating and empowering role within the Challenge - through their communication style, during the bootcamp and subsequent mentorship; they should not seek to influence or steer the ideas and project;
- Where possible, youth are engaged as facilitators and mentors, as well as Challenge participants.
We are all equal:
- We welcome all teams that are gender equal and welcome teams from different backgrounds and encourage the participation of girls, young people and young people with disabilities;
- By design, we will actively engage participants from marginalized communities and create inclusive and accessible environment for all.
We are all work together:
- There is no automatic entry for specific young people or groups into the Challenge. There is a transparent application process.
A learning approach:
- We will embed real-time learning in everything we do to implement the contest, in the same way that we seek to embed this mindset in supporting young people to develop their ideas and projects.
We can do it!
- Things won’t always go as planned – this is a learning opportunity; not a failure;
- We see no limits to the potential of young people.
Don't forget to follow us on our different platforms:
Our official website:
https://www.generationunlimited.org/
Our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/GenerationUnlimited.sy
Our Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/generationunlimited_sy