FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH WITH INNOVATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IDEAS
Are you enthusiastic about innovation and entrepreneurship??
Do you want to develop yourself and your community?
Do you have an innovative or expand idea you would like to promote?
Are you a young person between 15 to 35 years? 

SOS Children’s Village brings you a good news for you!!!

ABOUT THE PROJECT
With a funding from Hermann Gmeiner Fonds Deutschland (HGFD) SOS Children’s Villages Sierra Leone is implementing the Linking Needs and Fund project in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is part of the organisation’s emergency response during COVID-19, which aims at cushioning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable children, young persons and their families in Bo, Makeni and Freetown.
The project has a youth empowerment and entrepreneurship component that aims at providing support to twenty-five young people with innovative and entrepreneur skills. This will be done through the provision of technical and financial resources to enable them to thrive in their innovative projects.  

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
 – Applicants MUST be Sierra Leoneans (individuals or groups) and between 15 to 35 years of age;
 – The project/business idea must be original, based on local content, brand new, value addition or improving on existing ideas/processes.
– The project can be new or existing with desire to expand
– The idea must be marketable thus leading to successful entrepreneurship.
– The innovative idea must be seen bringing change in community/society specifically from the following areas:  health, water, sanitation and hygiene, transport, fashion, design, arts, entertainment, digitalization, child welfare and protection, girls empowerment, climate change and environment, and mental health. 
– Evidence of residence in Bo/Bombali districts and in western urban and rural areas.
– The project must be implemented within one year.
– Successful individuals or groups must be willing to be monitored  by the project team. 
– Must submit evidence of work on the innovative project.  
– The innovative project must be worth not more than twenty-five million leones (Le 25,000,000).
– Must be willing to present/defend their projects and be questioned/challenged by the judges. 
– Project must include sustainability component prove it continuity  

APPLICATION PROCESS
– All interested candidates must submit together with their application, an innovative idea they would want to develop/improve through this project.
– All applications should be submitted online via this medium. 
– Applications will close on Sunday, 31st October 2021 at 23:59 GMT.
–  Hard copies of application will not be accepted
–  Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 
–  Should you experience difficulties submitting this form, please contact  apply.sl@sossierraleone.org