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About the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment

Goal

The Fund aims to create a prosperous future for 230,000 young women and men in the Middle East, North Africa, Sahel & West Africa and Horn of Africa. This will be achieved by supporting youth employment initiatives in these regions. Initiatives will offer youth, particularly young women, opportunities for decent work that delivers better prospects for personal development, is productive, and offers a stable income, social protection and safe working conditions.

How does it work?

Private sector, civil society and knowledge institutions will be invited to submit proposals for initiatives to address specific challenges framed around creating scalable solutions for more and better jobs for youth. Solutions will be built around integrated approaches designed to bridge the mismatch between the demand for high quality jobs and the supply of skilled labour. They will be aligned with aspirations of young women and men in the regions.

Support

Technical support will be available for applicants throughout the process. The Fund Manager will organise physical and online information sessions for potential applicants. Interested parties are welcome to contact the Fund Manager to discuss ideas and seek guidance or support for concept note development. Once projects are selected for implementation, tailored technical support will also be made available to maximise delivery of results.

More about the fund

The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) is a 7-year programme funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund is managed by the Palladium Group, Randstad and VSO.

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How to apply?

Process of application

Twice a year the Fund will open a thematic call for concept notes whereby applicants are invited to submit their ideas for projects responding to a challenge in a specific country or region. The call for concept notes will be published on the website and through social media channels.

Once submitted, concept notes will be assessed by a panel of experts and youth representatives. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a full business case. This should describe the pathway to results, the budget and the financing strategy. On average, the contribution of the Challenge Fund will be one third of the total project budget.

Who can apply?

There are no restrictions to who can apply to the Fund. Ideas are invited from private sector organisations, civil society and knowledge institutions or from a consortium involving two or more partners. Regardless the status of the applicant, all concept notes and business cases will be assessed against the same criteria.

Since proposed initiatives should have a clear pathway to decent work for youth, both youth themselves and employers will be involved in the design of the project. All projects will need to report on their results and the financial contributions made by the Fund will be clearly linked to the achievement of those results.

In addition, the Fund is looking for sustainable and scalable initiatives implemented by partners who will be able to contribute on average two thirds of the total project budget.

News

Learning Brief: Artificial Intelligence for Fund Intelligence: Leveraging AI for Learning at CFYE

Learning material Various Countries

Faatimah Clarke

June 24, 2026

Since its start in 2019, the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE or ‘The Fund’) has generated vast amounts of data, from job outcome numbers and implementing partner narratives, to youth surveys and focus group discussions. Yet the capacity to analyse and connect these varied data streams rarely keeps pace with the volume collected. This gap limits what we can learn, how quickly we can adapt, and how effectively we can reach our goal of connecting 230, 000 young women and men with decent employment opportunities. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers a practical way to close that gap. CFYE became an early adopter of AI for programme learning, using it not to replace human judgement, but to expand what the team can learn across varied sources and contexts. Through pilots in several learning workstreams, including a Pathways to Employment (PTE) study, implementing partner Theory of Change (TOC) reviews, and gender research, CFYE developed approaches that are replicable, rigorous, and grounded in the practical realities of working with programme data. This brief shares key insights, practical challenges, and actionable guidance for implementers and practitioners considering AI-enabled learning in their own programmes.

Who Counts as Talent? Horn Afrique Poultry Farm’s Journey to Inclusive Business Growth

Case study Ethiopia Impact stories

Sade Aalto-Setala

June 17, 2026

In Jijiga Town, located within the Somali Region of Eastern Ethiopia, a poultry company is pursuing a mission that goes far beyond production. Horn Afrique Poultry Farm (HAPF), led by CEO Mr. Farhan Abdulkadir, is committed not only to delivering high-quality products, but also creating jobs for youth, supporting community development, and advancing sustainable agricultural practices. HAPF is among several of CFYE's Implementing Partners demonstrating that business growth and social impact don’t have to be at odds, but in fact, can strengthen and support each other. Since partnering with CFYE, the company has expanded its poultry units and processing capacity, strengthening its credibility with financial institutions and attracting new partnerships. At the same time, HAPF has managed to create income opportunities for 1,031 youth across its value chain, of which 528 were women, thus achieving 103% of the jobs planned with CFYE.

Pathways to Employment: Paper 1

Learning material Various Countries

Faatimah Clarke

June 10, 2026

Labour markets across Africa and the Middle East are undergoing rapid transformation driven by digital technologies. However, sectors with the potential to scale rapidly, such as e-commerce, educational technology (EdTech), and IT services, often struggle to find talent. These digital sectors face a persistent mismatch between employer needs and the available talent pool. Addressing this challenge requires demand-driven approaches that not only equip young people with relevant skills but also ensure that training is directly connected to real job opportunities through structured pathways into employment. In this context, Platforms for Skills-Building have emerged as a promising model, providing technical and soft skills training, mentorship, and job matching services to prepare youth for two key job types: digitally enabled jobs (e.g. retail staff using point of sale systems) or digitally delivered jobs (e.g. online customer support)

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