Who can apply
- Legally registered nonprofit youth organisations
- Trusts with a clear social mission
- Community-Based Organisations (CBOs)
- Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
- Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)
- Organisations with 100% of governance and primary decision-making positions held by young people aged 18–35
- Organisations where more than 80% of people directly involved in designing and carrying out activities are aged 18–35
- Organisations whose proposed project implementation staff are 100% aged 18–35
- Organisations with their own organisational bank account
- Organisations with a clear governance structure
- Organisations registered in one of the 12 eligible African countries
- Organisations proposing activities implemented in one or more of the 12 eligible countries
Focus areas
- Youth-led innovation
- Climate change and climate resilience
- Inequality
- Youth unemployment
- Social inclusion
- Access to education
- Youth participation in decision-making
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Refugee and host-community youth participation
- Disability inclusion
- Gender equality
- Migration and displacement
- Youth advocacy and campaigning
- Sustainable Development Goals
- African Union Agenda 2063
- Intersectional approaches to global challenges
- Systems, policy and practice change
- Scaling and adapting successful youth-led solutions
Requirements
- Applicant must be a nonprofit Trust, CBO, NGO or CSO with a clear social mission
- Applicant must be formally and legally registered
- Applicant must have an organisational bank account
- Applicant must have a clear governance structure
- % of organisational governance and primary decision makers must be aged 18–35
- More than 80% of those directly designing and carrying out organisational activities must be aged 18–35
- % of staff implementing the proposed project must be aged 18–35
- Applicant must be registered in one of the 12 eligible African countries
- Proposed activities must take place in one or more eligible countries
- Project must demonstrate genuine innovation through designing, testing, adapting, improving or scaling an approach
- Project should respond to a broader global challenge and generate learning beyond one local context
- Project should meaningfully involve diverse or marginalised young people
- Project must include a credible sustainability approach beyond the grant period
- Applicant must use the compulsory narrative, budget and workplan formats
- At least 5% of the grant must be budgeted for technical support and organisational strengthening
- Budget must include participation of up to two representatives in the mandatory Link & Learn event
- Applications must be submitted in English, French or Portuguese
- An organisation may submit only one application under the current Call for Proposals
- Organisations already awarded an AU–EU Youth Action Lab grant in a previous round cannot receive another grant under the programme
Application steps
- Read the current August 2026 Innovation Grant Funding Manual and confirm that every youth-led eligibility requirement is met
- Define an innovative project that designs, tests, adapts, improves or scales a solution to a recognised global challenge affecting young people
- Prepare the required narrative application, workplan and EUR 42,000 budget, including at least 5% for organisational technical support and the mandatory Link & Learn costs
- Create or reactivate an account on the ON Grip application platform through the official Innovation Grants page
- Complete all organisational, project, risk, budget and certification sections in the ON Grip application
- Review everything carefully and submit before 23 September 2026 at 13:00 CAT because submitted applications cannot be edited
This is a valuable EUR 42,000 opportunity, but the youth-led definition is a hard eligibility test rather than a preference. Applicants should verify ages across their governance, organisational team and proposed project staff before starting: 100% of governance must be aged 18–35, more than 80% of those designing and carrying out organisational activities must be within that age group, and every staff member implementing the funded project must also be aged 18–35. Innovation does not mean applicants need to develop an app or new technology. The programme accepts new, adapted, improved or scaled approaches, campaigns and collaborations. Strong proposals should combine tangible local benefits with learning or change that could influence wider systems, policy or practice, and projects involving marginalised youth, including young women, persons with disabilities, refugees and other excluded groups, are particularly relevant. Applicants should avoid presenting an ordinary service-delivery project with an “innovation” label. The current Funding Manual also warns that proposals generated primarily by AI may be rejected; AI may be used for proofreading and language editing, but the project concept, design and narrative should genuinely come from the applicant organisation.