The Youth Leadership Development Programme was developed by LEAP Africa with the intention of providing undergraduate students attending postsecondary institutions with the information, abilities, and resources necessary to proactively participate in the process of nation-building, community development, and policy advocacy.
Read on to discover everything you need to know about navigating the LEAP Africa Youth Leadership Development Programme (YLDP) 2025 application.
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Summary of LEAP Africa Youth Leadership Development Programme (YLDP) 2025
| Host | LEAP Africa |
| Category | Training | Grants |
| Eligible Country: | Nigeria |
| Title | Leadership Development Programme |
| Benefits: | Leadership training & Mentorship | ₦2.5m Grants | Networking Opportunities |
| End Date: | March 14, 2025 |
About LEAP Africa – Nigeria Youth Futures Fund (NYFF)
In collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Luminate Group, LEAP Africa created the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund (NYFF) to develop the youthful ecosystem Nigeria by providing strategic capacity building, youth mobilization, multi-faceted financial assistance, and sustenance for emergent youth-led initiatives in Nigeria to enable them to engage with impactful educational opportunities.
NYFF Project, which commenced in 2021, is a 5-years long project aimed at supporting the youth leadership and activism in Nigeria through proactive policy influence, multi-dimensional funding arrangements, and systems-thinking for sustainable Medium and Long term development.
The NYFF is an embodiment of the Nigerian youth investment strategy.
The NYFF strives to facilitate most relevant policy actions and ideas with the purpose of ensuring much greater impact with achievable institutional changes in Nigeria.
About the LEAP Africa Youth Leadership Development Programme 2025
The YLDP participants engage in self-paced courses that are designed to develop their mindsets and prepare them to become the change agents the country requires.
These courses are based on the three pillars of the program: leadership, active citizenship, and community/sustainable development.
They also participate in mentorship sessions with expert social innovators and change makers who will provide guidance as they implement impactful change projects, inter-school debates on national issues, funded community change projects, and virtual learning sessions.
The Youth Leadership Development Programme will assist young individuals in becoming actively involved in the resolution of national concerns, while also promoting peer-to-peer learning and community development. This will enable them to become contributing members of society.
YLDP Programme’s Central Courses
- Self Leadership
- Transformative Leadership
- Ethics & Values
- Diversity, Tolerance, & Inclusion
- Problem-Solving
- Civic Education 101
- Advocacy 102: Enabling Youth Voices – From Hype to Action
- Community Organizing
- Sustainable Development Goals: The Goals, The Targets, and Your Role
- Public Policy
Focus Areas of the YLDP
- Facilitating good governance
- Resolving fundamental national questions
Guidelines for the Youth Leadership Development Programme
- General Guidelines for Participation in the Youth Leadership Development Programme:
- Participants must be between 18 and 35 years of age.
- Participants must be undergraduate students from any higher institution in Nigeria.
- Participants must be available to engage in the program for the 5-month timeframe.
- Participants must commit to at least 85% overall involvement in the programme.
- Participants must have a working mobile phone/personal computer and access to reliable internet at all times during the program.
- Participants must produce proof of studentship at the specified tertiary institution (course form for the current session or ID card).
- Participants must be willing to travel at any stage of the training.
- After completing the applications, all participants admitted to the programme must complete the ten required virtual courses before moving on to their preferred track divisions.
Guidelines for the Community Change Project Track
- Candidates interested in the Community Change Project track will apply by either presenting a proposal outlining a problem in their community that they want to tackle or picking a proposed project concept provided by another candidate from their institution. The suggested project proposal must be in line with one of the NYFF theme focus areas for 2025, which are Facilitating effective governance and Resolving basic national challenges.
- A Community Change Project Team can have between 5 and 10 students. When a project reaches its maximum number of members, it will be unavailable for selection. In this instance, the candidate must evaluate another recommended project or submit one on their own.
- Participants will go through three specialised courses to better prepare them for change project execution.
- At the conclusion of the virtual learning sessions, participants are expected to amend or refresh their change project proposal, if needed.
- The proposal should identify possible stakeholders (enablers, beneficiaries, and financing sources) as well as the change project’s locations.
- Participating teams have the opportunity to pitch for and win grants from any of the several categories to supplement funding for their projects. Â
See the funding categories below.
Large subgrant – 400,000
Small Subgrant: 200,000
- Both subgrant categories must be consistent with the themes. Facilitating excellent governance and resolving important national issues.
- The Secretariat maintains the discretion to award subgrants in different categories based on the merits of the submitted project proposal.
- Teams who are unable to access any of the subgrant categories may seek alternate funding sources.Â
- To formally complete the programme, all registered teams must carry out their specified project.
Guidelines for the Youth Leadership Debates Track
- A group of three students from the same tertiary institution will first apply by registering an advocacy concept or joining up for an existing proposal.
- The second selection round for this track will entail the submission of a video of no more than 5 minutes in length with at least two debating team members discussing any policy issue related to the key theme areas.
- Debate entries should focus on the following topics:Â facilitating effective governance.
- Addressing core national issues
- The video should be uploaded to any social media platform, and the link should be included on the application form.
- Each team member’s enrollment at the institution would need to be documented, such as through course forms.
How to Apply for LEAP Africa Youth Leadership Development Programme (YLDP) 2025
To start your application for the LEAP Africa Youth Leadership Development Programme (YLDP) 2025, kindly click on the application button below:
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