A Message of Support for Young People

Dear Young Leaders,

Young people have always been a powerful force for innovation, collaboration, and progress, and your efforts continue to create meaningful impacts within your communities. We believe in the power of young people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and abilities. Every community is unique, and the most effective solutions emerge from within. Our strength lies in your lived experiences, resilience, and vision for a better future.  You are a powerful force for change, and you, in turn, have risen to meet those challenges with determination, creativity, and an unwavering belief in the possibility of change.

We, the executive directors of the Big Six—an alliance of leading international youth-serving organisations—are speaking directly to you during this time of rapid change, which includes a possible reduction in financial flows of international cooperation but also represents an opportunity to adapt quickly, innovate, build resilience and further empower young people around the world. Changes in the external environment may reduce our capacity to deliver crucial services, but not our ambitions to fulfil our respective institutional mandates. We want you to hear this clearly: We see you, we hear you, and we are with you during this time.

Our mission together remains as strong as ever—enabling local communities and amplifying young people’s voices and leadership. We are dedicated to young people’s access to tools, networks, and opportunities to bring visions, missions, ideas, and actions to life. We aim to champion youth-led initiatives, nurture leadership, and create spaces where young people thrive. We will continue to advocate for and with young people at the highest levels.

Non-formal education and volunteering are potent ways for young people to build skills, confidence, and lasting connections. We know from the hugely impactful work of our network of member or national organisations in over 190 countries that these experiences help develop leaders and provide opportunities to contribute meaningfully to communities. Through our unique model of millions of hard-working volunteers in every local community, they ensure that young people’s voices shape the solutions guiding our collective future.

Our joint initiative, The Global Youth Mobilization (GYM), has young people leading projects that foster positive change in communities. This youth-driven effort has created new and needed ways for young leaders to contribute to decisions that affect their lives and have the resources to lead.

Since its inception during the COVID pandemic, the GYM has been designed to dismantle barriers to funding and provide hard-to-find opportunities for mentoring, coaching, and capacity building. It has been designed to ensure equitable access to resources for marginalised and underrepresented peoples and communities.

Now, in partnership with the European Commission Directorate-General for International Partnerships, GYM continues to expand its reach, offering accessible funding, mentoring, and resources to support youth-led local projects. Launched in October 2023, the €10 million initiative, called The Youth Empowerment Fund, provides youth-friendly funding for projects that contribute to the sustainable development of local communities.

The second funding cycle launched on March 3rd, and we encourage you to apply, bringing forward ideas that will strengthen and uplift your communities and address new gaps created by this burgeoning global funding crisis.

The future is bright, and it still belongs to you. We trust your capacity to turn the tide, create change, and lead with courage. Your leadership is needed now more than ever. The future is yours; we know you need resources to make it.

With unwavering support and solidarity,

Casey Harden,
General Secretary,
CEO/World YWCA

Carlos Sanvee,
Secretary General,
World YMCA

Xavier Castellanos,
Under Secretary General (NSDC),
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Martin Houghton-Brown,
Secretary General,
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation

Guy Holloway,
Acting Chief Executive,
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts

David Berg,
Acting Secretary General,
World Scouting

March 19, 2025