We Trust You(th) Initiative - anything is possible, when we trust.
We are an initiative that is co-led by five youth-led organizations from around the world. Together with other partners, we are here to challenge and support youth-focused donors and NGOs to partner and fund young people more intentionally and equitably.
We believe…
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youth-focused NGOs and donors are ultimately accountable to young people;
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we can build an ecosystem that makes this true;
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that once we trust one another, anything is possible.
We are driven by the need to end systemic inequities that currently thrive within relationships between youth-led organizations and youth-focused donors and NGOs.
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
Power imbalances and prejudice hurt our collective ability to improve young people’s lives. A lack of trust and collaboration between youth-led efforts and youth-focused donors and NGOs currently result in:
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inequitable partnership agreements that often put young people in uncertain and compromising situations;
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funding mechanisms that overlook organizations that know local young people best;
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out of touch “capacity building” programs that waste resources;
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and the list goes on...
Unless we learn to work differently together, our collective ability to improve young people’s lives will remain limited.
How are we going to get there?
To kickstart the action, we will challenge and support youth-focused donors and NGOs to get their relationships with young people right. We will be doing this by:
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Issuing a public challenge to donors and NGOs to take specific concrete action to improve how they partner, fund, and support young people. We hope that this public challenge will facilitate action on issues that have remained internal conversations solely amongst donors and NGOs.
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Creating a practical problem solving community, where youth-led organizations, participatory grantmaking advisors, specialists in revising NGOs practices, and your peers (youth-focused donors and NGOs) can work together to tackle specific challenges, building trust along the way. We hope that this collective problem-solving group will enable all those who accept the challenge to complete the actions they challenge themselves to, making the world that much more equitable for young people.
We know that change is possible, and we’re trusting you, to trust youth to make it happen.
What are we working towards?
We are working towards unprecedented partnerships between youth-led efforts and youth-focused donors and NGOs – where young people’s rights are respected, and the “new normal” is achieving long-lasting change through trust-based collaboration.
What values drive us?
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Trust: anything is possible, when we trust each other.
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Accountability: we owe it to each other.
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Collaboration: we need each other.
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Inclusivity: there is no other right way forward.
How was this group formed?
Over the last two-plus years, the concept for this initiative has evolved and grown organically and intentionally. Some of the youth-led organizations joined this group via an open call for applications (which resulted in 500 applications from YLOs from all over the world) and others were already in touch as youth-led organization partners to FP2030.
FP2030 has supported our initiative with start-up funds. We have also received additional funds from a foundation focusing on adolescent health and wellbeing. All current funds are held by The International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (which is a registered 501(c)3 organization). IYAFP is dedicated to making budgeting decisions in collaboration with four other youth-led organizations: CHOICE for Youth & Sexuality, Copper Rose Zambia, Green Girls Platform and ¿Y Yo Por Qué No? (YYPN).