The Gender and Youth Promotion Initiatives are expressions of the Fund’s commitment to inclusive peacebuilding. The Gender Promotion Initiative (GPI) supports the empowerment of women and the advancement of gender equality in peacebuilding and since 2011 the Fund has invested over $114 million in 96 GPI projects in over 30 countries. The Youth Promotion Initiative (YPI) supports youth engagement and participation in peacebuilding and since 2016, PBF has invested over $105 million in 83 YPI projects in close to 30 countries. In 2021, PBF invested in a total of 19 GPI project ($25.7 m) as well as 19 YPI projects ($25.7 m) focused on the themes of protection of civic spaces as well as promotion of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS).
The two initiatives are now open for concept notes and welcome proposals from both civil society organizations (CSOs) and UN agencies, funds and programmes. The initiatives are launched in collaboration with partners including UN Women and UNFPA. Responding to challenges and identified gaps, this year’s GPI is seeking proposals on supporting women’s civil society organizations, groups and networks in strengthening their institutional capacity for sustainable contribution to peacebuilding.
This year’s YPI is seeking proposals on 1) fostering youth-inclusive political processes and promoting the political participation of diverse young people, 2) promoting safety, security, and protection of diverse young people and 3) a combination of theme 1 and 2. More information, including the call for proposals is available on the website. Introductory webinars have already taken place, recordings are available on the website, and thematic webinars will take place in the beginning of May. The deadline for concept notes is 6 June 2022.
In addition, a pilot to nationalize GPI called “GPI 2.0” is being launched in 4 countries in 2022: the Gambia, Guatemala, Haiti and Niger. These countries are not eligible for regular GPI but will remain eligible for YPI. The core idea of the GPI 2.0 pilot is to decentralize the initiative to country level, under leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator and Country Team. The goals of the pilot are to enhance national ownership, better integrate support for WPS commitments into longer-term country level peacebuilding strategies and expand access of national civil society organizations to PBF resources.
