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1. What is the GCYLP?
Generation Connect Young Leadership Programme (GCYLP) is an exciting ITU programme in partnership with Huawei, to engage, empower, and inspire young digital leaders and changemakers. 30 young fellows per year will have the unique opportunity to receive guidance, training, and financial support towards practically implementing their own digital development projects in their diverse communities across the world.

The programme on Generation Connect Young Leadership will be conducted in English only.

2. How can I apply?
The deadline for submissions was 23:59 CEST on 23 March 2024. Thank you for your interest.

3. What will the selected fellows get?

  • Curated programming:  year-long virtual leadership training activities by ITU and Huawei, and participation in an in-person global training week (location TBC) to boost their capacity as digital changemakers.
  • Funding: Up to USD 10,000 in grant funding for their youth-led project – all 30 selected fellows will receive an initial USD 5000 grant towards the implementation of their proposed digital development projects. The most impactful projects at the end of the year will receive an extra USD 5000 grant to scale up.

4. What are the selection criteria?

  • Be aged 18-28 by the application deadline of Saturday 23 March 2024.
  • Be interested in leading and implementing a digital development project.
  • Be currently enrolled or recently graduated from a tertiary education institution from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) or demonstrably STEM-related academic programme.
  • Be able to communicate in English – the main language of the programme. This language requirement is to ensure that all fellows can benefit from the planned offerings of trainings, networking, and events.

5. Can I apply with an already existing project?

Yes. The submitted project in your application can be a new project or an existing project.

6. Can I apply as a team?

No. GCYLP is a leadership programme for 30 individual young visionaries per year, so only individual applications will be considered. If you have an existing team project to apply with, we recommend having one of the leaders/founders apply for this opportunity.

7. What will be selection process be? When will I found out if I am shortlisted?

  • Shortlisting: A first round of applications reading will be completed by ITU and Huawei staff. By mid-April 2024, shortlisted candidates will then be sent an invitation to quickly [in 4 days] provide ID documentation, a video and 2 different references for the final round of selection.
  • Final selection: the GCYLP Jury, will then hold a final selection meeting to choose the 30 fellows of the cohort. We aim to announce the fellows by early May 2024.

8. What kinds of applicant profile and projects would really stand out?

  • Applicant profile: a young visionary demonstrably willing to champion digitalization for equal and equitable empowerment through ICTs especially for people in vulnerable situations.
  • Projects: a digital development project can be defined as a project using digital technologies to create, improve, or transform aspects of society, such as communication, education, healthcare, commerce, and more. It involves leveraging digital tools and platforms to innovate, streamline, and/or enhance overall effectiveness, efficiency and/or human experiences. Applicants can be creative in the ideation of their digital development projects, but to really stand out, we would recommend linking the proposed project to one of the ITU 2023-2025 Regional Initiatives.

9. What will the composition of the GCYLP 1st cohort be?

We are aiming for gender balance and regional representation from all ITU Regions. We especially encourage applicants from LDCs, LLDCs, SIDS, and countries with economies in transition.

10. What is the time commitment required of fellows? Can I study or work outside the GCYLP?

This GCYLP has been curated with the understanding that fellows are likely to be balancing other priorities/activities with the programme. This is not a full-time programme; besides the 1-week in-person training, approximately 4 hours of compulsory virtual programming per month is planned. Outside of the compulsory programming, fellows can flexibly work on their digital development projects. We recommend that fellows independently commit at least 5 hours per week to implementing their projects.