Eligibility Criteria

The following eligibility criteria will apply:

• Principles: Should adhere to CFYE’s guiding principles and priorities
• Exclusion Criteria: The project and organizations involved in delivering the project must pass the FMO exclusion criteria

Applicant Criteria

• Private-Sector-Led: Only projects presented by legally registered private sector firms are eligible. Applicants can either be individual or consortiums. Consortiums must be led by private sector firms and can include organizations from the civil society and knowledge institutions as consortium partners, they should include two or more partners
• Business Maturity Stage: The lead applicant needs to be in their scale up or growth stage with at least 3 years of business operations. Activities presented in solutions need to be tested concepts. Applicants must have the financial capability to successfully operated their proposed projects.
• Leverage/Financial Capability: The minimum total project value should be €400,000, with a minimum contribution from CFYE of €200,000. This should be matched by a co-investment from the applicant that is at least equal to the grant requested from CFYE. In-kind contributions are allowed but should not exceed 30% of the leveraged resources.
• Consortium Composition: The Lead Applicant must be a private sector firm. The Lead Applicant is required to demonstrate that they can work with their consortium members, showing previous successful working collaborations is a plus. Solution implementation and co-financing are the responsibility of the Lead Applicant.

The following are not mandatory criteria but are considered as a plus for the applicant:

• Actively support women: Women-led businesses are actively encouraged to apply for CFYE.
• Presence outside the Greater Cairo area: Applicants with nationwide presence and operations (outside the Greater Cairo area) are actively encouraged to apply.
• Businesses with specific social objectives that serve their primary purpose or those who seek to maximize profits while maximizing benefits to their society are strongly encouraged to apply.

Project Criteria

• Minimum Number of Youth-Focused Jobs: A minimum of 500 decent jobs (age range 18-35 years) with a mix of 2-3 job types (Create, Match, Improve). The recommended mix should be 50% Create job type, no more than 30% Improve job type, solutions focusing on 100% Match job type are ineligible.
• Priority Jobs for Women: Projects should aim to create jobs for youth aiming at a minimum of 50% of the target jobs for women
• Clear Pathways to Decent Employment: Minimum employment age is 18 years old (according to the Egyptian Labor Law). Average gross monthly income no less than the national minimum wage with a maximum of 48 hours/week. Proof of employment will be required for a definite number of months (to be communicated at later stages but a minimum of 4 months)
• Additionality: CFYE will only support solutions/projects/initiatives that would not be delivered within the same timelines, at the same scale, or delivering the same impact level with support from CFYE.
• Sustainability: As part of the design of the project/solution presented, the Applicant will be required to demonstrate how their initiative will become independent of external funding as part of their business case. It is of importance that projects have the necessary means to sustain their revenue, profitability and job outcomes beyond CFYE’s funding.
• Consortium Solutions: Projects presented by a Consortium must be coherent, complementing and integrated building on the business models of each of the consortium partners.
• Duration of Project: The duration of the project/initiative will be for 2 years.

Job Types & Outcomes

The following section explains the different job types that are expected to be generated through the projects submitted by applicants.

Create

• Young people gain employment as a result of newly created decent work (job opportunity that did not exist before CFYE intervention) and income opportunities
• Young people gain employment who did not have work and income at all before CFYE intervention

Channels: Jobs created directly through CFYE Implementing Partners (IPs) as well as jobs created indirectly in the CFYE IPs value chain (up and down the value chain). Created jobs can be full time or part time.

Below are some examples of jobs that fall under the Create category:

• A new production line is built and young people are employed in newly added roles as a result of CFYE intervention
• Young people with no previous employment are hired as a result of CFYE intervention
• New self-employment ventures started by young people receiving entrepreneurship support (financial and non-financial)

Match

Young people are hired/contracted into decent jobs through CFYE supported job placement/matching services following a CFYE skill development intervention.

Below are some examples of jobs that fall under the Match category:

• Young people trained to work in the hospitality industry who are hired into jobs at hotels or restaurants following the training
• Young people receiving jobs through a Fund-supported digital matching platform.

Improve

Young people experience direct improvements in the quality of the work/roles they already have (existing jobs/employees) in terms of income, benefits, working hours, work/life balance, health and safety, social protection and job security.

Below are some examples of jobs that fall under the Improve category:

• Increase in average monthly income or salary as a result of CFYE intervention
• Promotions resulting from a CFYE intervention
• Employees of supported IPs going from having no formal agreement with their employer to a written contract specifying terms of employment
• Change from having inadequate preventive measures to protect them from workplace hazards to having appropriate measures in place
• Establishing a nursery withing the workplace to support young female mother employees

Want to apply?

Download the application brochure below.

Relevant Documentation

Want to know what to expect in our application process? Please have a look at the below documents.

Competitive Process

The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment will apply a competitive process to select the projects that will receive a grant. That means that only those projects that present a clear and convincing pathway to employment, lead to significant and sustainable results in terms of decent employment for youth, with a focus on young women, and can demonstrate high leverage will be selected.