The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France Diplomacy inviting Call for Youth Projects VII to support the commitment of French local authorities (CTF) and their foreign counterparts in favor of young people, their openness to the world and the development of opportunities to their intention, in terms of education, training and participation in the sustainable development of territories.

Since the outbreak of the global COVID pandemic, the mobility of young people has been restricted in many countries, without their desire to become involved internationally. On the other hand, the French government has decided to strengthen the civic engagement of young people, in particular through volunteering (as evidenced by the increase in the number of civic services).

Three ministries with key competences in the field of youth, education and training are joining forces to enable local authorities to develop opportunities for young people in their territory (mobility, education, training, employment):

• The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE);
• The Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports (MENJS);
• The Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAA).

Project Components

• Youth and Volunteering: The “Youth and Volunteering” component aims to develop the civic and solidarity engagement of young people in the territories, on the one hand by encouraging their mobility within the framework of volunteering, and on the other hand by supporting our foreign partners in the development of public policies intended to better involve young people in local democratic life, but also to better inform them on the subjects which concern them (training opportunities, employment, rights, etc.).
  • Volunteer youth exchange projects:
    • Beneficiaries: The projects will concern young people aged 16 to 30. The age groups provided for by each volunteering scheme must be respected.
    • The eligible expenses under the part of this call for projects are:
      • Transport costs,
      • Accommodation and catering expenses,
      • Visa fees and various administrative formalities,
      • Insurance and mutual,
      • Supervision, training and support,
      • Monitoring, evaluation and review,
      • Mission expenses of the volunteer in connection with the implementation of the project,
      • Communication costs for the promotion of the volunteer's mission.
    • Capacity building project for public youth policies:
    • Beneficiaries: The partner local authorities will be the first beneficiaries, thanks to capacity building actions and the exchange of good practices in public youth policies. Young people and youth professionals (animators, educators, etc.) will be associated with the project carried by the communities, from its development to its implementation.
    • Eligible expenditure for MEAE co-financing:
      • All expenses incurred must have a direct link with the decentralized cooperation project.
      • Expenditure on infrastructure and / or equipment is excluded if it is not part of a coherent set of actions.
• Basic Education: Young people are the future of countries, so it is essential to contribute to their intellectual development from an early age. This component helps to support and extend access to primary and secondary education without distinction of sex in all territories, but also to develop exchanges between young people in school through mobility.
  • Beneficiaries:
    • The first beneficiaries of the projects should be young people of primary or secondary school age as well as their teachers.
    • The projects should ensure that they support and enrich the local public policies of the partner communities in order to promote access for all to basic education.
    • Expenditure ineligible for MEAE co-financing
    • All expenses incurred must have a direct link with the decentralized cooperation project.
  • The following expenses are excluded:
    • Costs already funded by the State and / or institutional mobility organizations (Ministry of National Education and Youth, Erasmus +, the Franco-German Youth Office, etc.) ;
    • Spending on infrastructure and / or materials if they are not part of a coherent set of actions.
• Vocational Training of Young People: This component aims on the one hand to encourage the mobility of apprentices and young people in vocational training, but also of teachers and trainers, between training establishments located in the territories of the partner communities, as well as that of young job seekers in the year following the end of their vocational training course.
  • Beneficiaries:
    • The first beneficiaries of the projects must be young people aged 16 to 30, in vocational training or having completed their course for less than a year, as well as their trainers.
    • Particular attention will be paid to projects which will set up a training of trainers stressing the importance of mobility and international exchanges for opening up young people to the world and for their employability.
    • Finally, in the case of projects relating to the creation and / or strengthening of the vocational training offer, projects which will involve training structures and businesses in their territory will be given priority.
  • Expenditure ineligible for MEAE co-financing
    • All expenses incurred must have a direct link with the decentralized cooperation project.
    • The following items are excluded from eligible expenditure for MEAE co-financing:
    • Expenses already covered by another device (Erasmus +, European Solidarity Corps, OFQJ, OFAJ, etc.), any file not mentioning this co-financing will be rejected;
    • Spending on infrastructure and / or materials if they are not part of a coherent set of actions;
    • Expenses related to internships outside professional training courses;
    • University cooperation or higher education student exchange projects will not be eligible for this call for projects.

Eligibility Criteria

• All countries and territories are eligible for this call for projects, with the exception of Lebanon, Morocco, Mexico, Quebec, Russia, Senegal, Palestinian Territories and Tunisia. Insofar as there are other specific funding mechanisms for these countries and territories, they are only eligible within the framework of a project associating several partner communities in several different countries.

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