CFAs: Accelerating Youth-Led Action in Addressing Climate Mobility in Africa

This programme is a direct response to youth recommendations and is designed to equip youth-led civil society organisations (CSOs) in Africa with technical expertise, resources, and mentorship to implement bold, innovative, and community-driven climate mobility solutions.

Thematic Areas

• Migration as an adaptation strategy: including planned relocations, labour migration, just transition, and climate security.
• Early warning systems & early action: strengthening climate preparedness and response mechanisms in disaster-prone areas.
• Resilience building: promoting resilient livelihoods, community adaptation strategies, and nature-based solutions.
• Diaspora & migrants for climate action: leveraging migrant communities and networks for climate resilience initiatives.
• Sustainable solutions for climate-induced displacement: addressing basic needs, and long-term support for displaced populations.
• Data, Ai & research on climate migration: generating evidence to inform policies and decision-making.
• Policy & governance: strengthening integration of climate mobility into national policies and international frameworks.
• Communication & storytelling: using digital media, art, and journalism to amplify voices and experiences in climate mobility.

Benefits

• Capacity Strengthening: Increase your knowledge in the MECC nexus, project development, M&E, reporting, resource mobilization, communications and advocacy.
• Networking and mentorship: Connect with their experts and fellow youth leaders working on climate mobility solutions and other key stakeholders.
• Visibility & policy engagement: Get the chance to showcase your work and promote youth-led solutions into regional and global discussions.

Program Components

• Submission of application with projects concept ideas
• Selection of participants by IOM
• Online training (August–September 2025):
  • Four Webinars covering: Introduction to climate change and human mobility; Project conceptualization (proposal development, budgeting, work plans); Monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting; Communication and advocacy
  • Webinars will be organized via Zoom and will be conducted in English, French, Arabics with Portuguese interpretation available.
  • Each session will cover a duration of 2 hours.
  • Exact dates and times will be communicated with the selected participants only.
• Revising Climate Mobility Concept Notes to project proposals
  • Between the online and physical sessions, based on the learnings in the webinars, youth will independently work on revising their initial concept notes shared within the application to a project proposal, and submit to IOM before the physical workshop.
• Physical training workshop (October 2025)
  • A 3-day immersive workshop to refine project proposals, learn from peers, and pitch projects to an expert panel.
  • Exact location, dates and times will be communicated with the selected participants.
  • IOM will provide logistical support and reimburse travel costs for selected participants.
• Certification
  • Participants will receive a certificate of completion of the programme for successfully completing all online and in person sessions.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: applicants must be aged 18-35 years old.
• Nationality: nationality from an African country.
• Organization: representative of a civil society organization which is youth-led (majority under 35) and legally registered in an African country.
• Experience: the organization must have between 2-5 years of experience in leading environmental or social projects with local communities and have implemented at least 2 such projects recently.
• Project idea: applicants must submit a project idea and its concept for an innovative climate mobility solution they are or want to work on. The project must be for the benefit of communities and youth.
• Travel: applicants must have a valid passport at least until May 2026 and be able to obtain necessary travel and health documents and insurances.
• Language: proficiency in English, French, Arabic or Portuguese is required, and local language skills are an advantage.
• Commitment: applicants must be able to commit to all programme components, including online training, physical workshops, and mentorship activities, and the ethical values.

For more information, visit IOM.