$50,000 USAID YOUTH WELL BEING PRIZE COMPETITION

APPLICATION OPEN FOR USAID YOUTH WELL-BEING COMPETITION (Youth technology  contest) $50,000 prize.

Children and youth are exposed to a wide range of dangers—mental health stressors, digital harm, exploitation, abuse, violence, gender-based violence, and climate change. Suicide is the second leading cause of death globally for 15–19-year-olds.

 Online bullying and other forms of digital harm are also prevalent, with 23 percent reporting that they’ve experienced online bullying in the past 30 days

In a survey of youth from ten countries, 84 percent of respondents reported feeling at least moderately worried about climate change, and nearly half said their worries negatively affect their daily life and functioning. 

According to a United Nations report, “psychologists say children are anxious and increases in cases of depression and anxiety have been recorded in several countries.” All too often, both communicating the problems young people are experiencing and developing solutions to address those problems are not driven by young people themselves.

$50,000 USAID Youth Well-Being Prize

The Youth Well-Being Prize Competition is looking for young change makers with innovative ideas for protecting young people’s well-being, keeping youth safe, and making a positive impact on the lives and communities of themselves and their peers.  USAID is seeking solutions created by young people, for young people.

These solutions should recognize the diverse identities of young people in the areas of mental health, digital harm, safeguarding, gender-based violence, and climate change.  Innovations should be created by youth with the target audience of the innovation being children and/or youth. Innovations should utilize digital tools in their creation, implementation, and/or use.

Illustrative examples include:

~A website sharing tips on how to improve mental health and well-being

~A social media campaign illustrating what you can do to reduce digital harm

~An online training or in-person training using digital tools and platforms on how to prevent and respond to child and youth violence

~An online game that increases knowledge of gender-based violence

~Online organizing such as an online petition, social media campaign, or Whatsapp group that connects youth in safely meeting and organizing community-based, national, or international efforts to plant trees.

Apply now!

Deadline is September 29, 2023