Eligibility Criteria for All Windows

1. Principles: Should adhere to CFYE’s guiding principles & priorities.

2. Exclusion Criteria: the project and organizations involved in delivering the project must pass the FMO exclusion criteria.

Applicant Criteria

1. Operational Criteria:

• The lead applicant, or at least one of the consortium partners, must have a local operating presence in the country.  
• The applicant must be able to begin operations no later than January 2024.  

2. Applicant Profile:

• We invite applications from private sector companies, as we believe that private sector involvement is the most effective way to develop and test market-based solutions that respond to the challenge of youth employment.   
• We actively welcome partnerships or consortium responses to this challenge (private sector/civil society organisations and NGOS or private sector/government institutions or international missions). 
• Business accelerators and impact investors are also eligible.  
• In the case of non-profit entities, they must apply in consortium with a private-sector partner with confirmed labour demand.   
• We have a strong preference to work with fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).   

Project/Solution Criteria

1. Job Type: Jobs should focus on wage employment, partial self-employment or self-employment (auto-entrepreneurs)

2. Decency of Jobs: For any job created, matched or improved, the minimum monthly income (SMIG) should be at least 2,970 Moroccan Dirhams (2194 MAD for SMAG), with no more than 48 hours per week of work. This is subject to updates from the National Social Security Fund (CNSS). Jobs should be maintained for at least 6 months. Internships are not considered to be decent jobs.

3. Total Youth Job Targets: The project must meet the minimum eligibility criteria for job targets through a combination of CFYE categories: create, match, or improve, within the project timeframe (maximum 2 years). The minimum job targets are as follows:  

• Window 1: 350+ jobs   
• Window 2: 200+ jobs    

Higher job targets showing cost-effectiveness will be regarded favourably during evaluation.   

4. Gender Targets: Of the totalall youth employment created, matched, or improved, at least 33% should be for women. Higher women inclusion targets will be regarded favourably during evaluation.  

5. Budget Guidelines:  

• The minimum contribution of the fund is €100,000. This should be matched by a co-investment that is at least equal to the contribution requested. Sources of co-funding must follow the guidance provided in the Concept Note guidance pack on the website.   
• The CFYE contribution requested cannot exceed the total turnover of the Lead Applicant in the previous year (if the applicant has been operational for more than 1 year). Applications that require lower co-investment by CFYE will be viewed favourably. The suggested range for CFYE co-investment is 30-50%.    
• There is no maximum grant amount stipulated, but we will consider whether the budget is realistic and whether the applicant can raise the required co-funding. We will also assess if the cost per job is competitive.   

1. The suggested range for Cost per job to CFYE (Total CFYE co-investment / total # of jobs) is between 300-800 Euros. 
2. Projects with a higher budget than this range may be considered if there is a compelling and feasible developmental additionality (e.g. very high inclusion of women or high inclusion of youth in remotely located areas).  
3. Projects that demonstrate value for money and cost-effectiveness will be viewed favourably during evaluation.   
4. The company’s in-kind contributions must not exceed 30% of its total co-investment.   
5. The capital investment (capex) request from CFYE must not exceed 33% of the total investment.   

6. Youth: The jobs created, matched, or improved must be for youth aged 18-35 years. The proposal must demonstrate that the aspirations and requirements of youth have been taken into consideration in the design of the concept.

7. Project Duration: The project duration must be a maximum of two years (project implementation deadline is June 2026).

8. Additionality: Additionality is a central consideration in the review of proposed projects. CFYE will only provide support to solutions/projects/initiatives that would not be implemented within the same timelines, at the same scale, or with the same level of impact without CFYE’s assistance. 

Large enterprises are welcome to apply but must demonstrate strong additionality of CFYE co-funding.  

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 who are currently employed are hired/contracted into other 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 ICT sector who are then hired into jobs at digital service companies  

• Young people receiving jobs through a Fund-supported digital matching platform. 

Improve

Young people experience direct tangible 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 etc… 

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

• Increase in average monthly income, salary or revenue 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 

Want to apply?

Download the application brochure below. You can find the link to our application portal in Concept Note Template and Guidance.

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.