The European Youth Foundation (EYF) is a fund established in 1972 by the Council of Europe to provide financial and educational support for European youth activities. Only youth NGOs from the 46 Council of Europe member states, as well as the European Cultural Convention Signatories: Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Holy See, and the Russian Federation, can apply to the Foundation. The EYF is part of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe’s Directorate for Democracy, Directorate General of Democracy and Human Dignity. The Foundation has an annual budget of approximately 4 million Euros, which is mainly made up of obligatory contributions from each Council of Europe member state.
The EYF offices are in the European Youth Centre (EYC) of the Council of Europe (30 Rue Pierre de Coubertin, 67000 Strasbourg, France).
EYF Grants
The EYF provides grants to project in line with Council of Europe values and work and the specific priorities of the Council of Europe’s youth sector. Projects must be designed to:
- strengthen peace and co-operation in Europe;
- promote closer co-operation and understanding among young people;
- encourage information exchange;
- stimulate mutual aid.
There are four kinds of grants open to different types of organisations:
- International activities (open to all except local NGOs)
- Annual work plans (only open to international NGOs/networks, can include pilot activities)
- Pilot activities (open to local, national, regional NGOs/networks)
- Structural grants (open to international and regional NGOs/networks).
The EYF may also have additional special calls.
The EYF does not provide support for the following types of activities: scholarships of any kind (school, university, research, programmes or exchanges, vocational training); commercial operations; construction, purchase or equipment of buildings; sports activities; tourism; participation in international exchanges; projects in agriculture and water sanitation; additional funding to cover costs for disadvantaged participants to take part in projects and/or activities funded by other donors; micro-credits; financial support for collecting and sending pedagogical material and/or food and/or clothes and/or books anywhere in the world.
The Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE) has its headquarters in Strasbourg, France. With 46 member states and a combined population of over 700 million people, the Council of Europe was set up in 1949 to ensure that the atrocities of WW II never happen again. Its work is unique in that everything it does is based on its core values: human rights, democracy and rule of law. The Council of Europe is a separate organisation from the 27-member European Union.
