What is the European Youth Foundation?

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The European Youth Foundation (EYF) is a fund established in 1972 by the Council of Europe to provide financial and educational support for European youth activities. Only youth NGOs from Council of Europe member states, as well as the European Cultural Convention Signatories: Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Holy See, can apply to the Foundation. It is a division in the Youth Department of the Council of Europe’s Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation, Directorate General of Democracy.

The European Youth Foundation is an instrument:
  • to make the voice of youth heard at a top decision making level;
  • managed by both youth non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government representatives, who decide and monitor the CoE Youth programme;
  • to support European non-governmental youth organisations and networks;
  • to promote peace, understanding and respect.

​The Foundation has an annual budget of approximately 3.7 million Euros, which is mainly made up of obligatory contributions from each Council of Europe member state. Since 1972, more than 300 000 young people, aged between 15 and 30 and mostly from member states, have benefited directly from EYF supported activities.
"Rooted in the European Cultural Convention, the mission of Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation is to develop democracy, human rights and the rule of law through education and youth policy and practice. The programmes focus on the emerging generation, enabling children and young people to become engaged and responsible European citizens who advocate human rights and participate fully in democratic life."

The mission, roles and responsibilities of the Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation

The EYF is co-managed by youth

Funding available?

  1. International activity - International meeting in Europe which contribute to the work of the youth sector of the Council of Europe in topic, methodology and with a clear European dimension.
  2. Annual work plan - It is a set of successive activities over a period of one year, interconnected and which contribute to the same broader aim. Should be in line with what you do and want to achieve.
  3. Structural grant - The EYF offers two types of structural grants: structural grant for 2 consecutive years and one-off grant. These are grants for general administrative costs.
  4. Pilot activity - A pilot activity should be an "intervention", i.e. an activity addressing a contextual societal challenge affecting young people at local level. It should also be based on innovation or on replication.

Priorities

In order to obtain the EYF's support, it is essential that your project falls within the Council of Europe's values and work, and the priorities of the Youth Sector.

Gender mainstraiming

Special attention will be given to applications integrating a gender perspective. This should be clearly explained in the grant application. Gender perspective does not mean having an equal number of female and male participants. You should try to develop your project looking through different gender glasses, taking into account the needs of young women and men. More information on gender mainstreaming www.coe.int/equality and our gender mainstreaming page developed having in mind youth NGOs.

EYF offices

The European Youth Foundation is based in Strasbourg, a city with a rich and agitated history; bicultural through its belonging to France and Germany at different times in the past. Strasbourg is a place of reconciliation between nations. The offices are in the European Youth Centre (EYC) (30 Rue Pierre de Coubertin 67000 Strasbourg France), an international training and meeting centre with residential facilities, hosting most of the youth sector's activities.
The information on this page is directly from the European Youth Foundation’s homepage. For more detailed information, more resources, access to the online application system … please visit their homepage at: http://www.coe.int/en/web/european-youth-foundation/home.

Disclaimer

The international secretariat of Don Bosco Youth-Net ivzw is financially supported by the European Union, through its 'Erasmus+'-programme, and by the Council of Europe, through its 'European Youth Foundation'. This website is a publication of Don Bosco Youth-Net ivzw. The website reflects the views only of the author, and neither the European Commission nor the Council of Europe can be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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