Southern Voice, in partnership with On Think Tanks (OTT), is launching the call for proposals for an exciting pitching contest for YTTs from the Global South in September 2023. The key theme of this event is fostering collaboration among young think tankers from the Global South. It aims to bring to the forefront concrete proposals on how to enhance these types of partnerships and provide them with an effective networking platform to ensure impact.

The pitches should feature practical and applicable solutions to increase and improve collaboration among the young think tankers of the Global South.

The following guiding questions can be included in the proposal:

  1. How can collaboration among the YTTs of the Global South be transformative for the United Nations?
  2. What needs to be done to increase and improve collaboration among YTTs across the Global South?
  3. How can the UN Office for Youth support these efforts?

The Our Common Agenda report by the UN Secretary-General emphasized including youth in decision-making and delivering on their priorities. However, the role of young think tankers from the Global South has been largely missing from global development discourse. Think tanks, situated at the confluence of research and policy, are critical in supporting evidence-based policymaking. The young researchers and policy advocates within these think tanks are the potential leaders of tomorrow, and hence the inclusion of their voices will help center Southern perspectives in the international agenda. Furthermore, an investment in their collaborations will translate into a future where think tanks in the Global South are better interconnected.

Young Think Tankers (YTTs) are early career researchers and policy professionals working in think tanks and research/policy organizations to support a diversity of social changes. A recent survey of Southern Voice’s YTT network highlights the low rate of collaborations among young thinks tankers of the Global South. Half of the respondents had only occasionally or never worked with peers within their continent, and this figure increased to 77% when we asked them about working with young researchers from other regions in the Global South. However, the YTTs showed great interest in working together more, agreeing that joint work would enhance their research impact and benefit the Global South as a whole.

Benefits

  1. The three winners will get the opportunity to showcase their ideas at the Southern Voice conference in November in Kenya. (Southern Voice will fund the travel.)
  2. The three winners will also be invited to become the steering group for improving networking opportunities among early career policy professionals of the Global South to promote the ideas suggested throughout the pitching contest.
  3. Some shortlisted participants will get the opportunity to publish ideas with support and guidance from the organizers.

Eligibilities

  • Applicant’s age must be 35 years at most.
  • Applicants must be affiliated with research organizations, think tanks, policy wings of government/legislatures, universities/other academic institutions, policy network organizations, or any such research institutions of government/non-government nature from the Global South.

Note:

  1. Following countries will be considered as Global South: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lanka, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri, State of Palestine, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Eligible Regions: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lanka, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri, State of Palestine, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Application Process

  • Applications for the competition must be submitted through the official online application form titled  “Young Think Tankers Pitching Contest: Proposal Submission” available on the apply link.
  • Proposals have to be uploaded to the application form.
  • that your proposal should be concise and compelling, of maximum 1200 words.

Application Deadline: May 31, 2023

Application ClosedOfficial link

For Further Queries

For further queries send them an email to [email protected].
Disclaimer: Youth Opportunities spreads opportunities for your convenience and ease based on available information, and thus, does not take any responsibility of unintended alternative or inaccurate information. As this is not the official page, we recommend you to visit the official website of opportunity provider for complete information. For organizations, this opportunity is shared with sole purpose of promoting “Access to Information” for all and should not be associated with any other purposes.

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