Application Call for Climate Fellowship Grant 2023

Application Call for Climate Fellowship Grant 2023

Program Overview

Youth Innovation Lab (YI-Lab) in the consortium of Restless Development, CREASION, and Center for Disaster Management Studies (CDMS) is implementing Nepali Yuwa in Climate Action and Green Growth (NYCAGG) project in Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces from 2022 to 2025 through the funding from the European Union. The project aims to promote Nepali youth inclusion in climate action and green economy in the post-COVID recovery of Nepal through their engagement in disaster and climate governance, entrepreneurship, and advocacy. It focuses on working with young people and empowering and providing them with a platform to aid towards the post-COVID recovery and development process. Furthermore, the activities under Climate Fellowship, Climate Smart Entrepreneurship, Mentee-mentorship, Digital Advocacy, and Youth Sounding Board work towards empowering young people, providing them employment opportunities, and generating innovative ideas to address climate and environmental issues, and advocating for policy changes to promote environmental protection.

Climate Fellowship Grant

Climate Fellowship provides an experiential platform for young people who are interested in pursuing their career in the field of climate change, governance, and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM). It provides opportunities for young, qualified, and enthusiasts to work closely with the provincial and municipal governments to gain in-depth experience in DRRM, Climate Change and Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Information Management System (DIMS). Through Climate Fellowship, young people will be engaged in policy making for DRRM and climate resilience at local level, strengthening technical capacity of the provincial and municipal officials to use Building Information Platform Against Disaster (BIPAD) portal, https://bipadportal.gov.np/, mapping of critical infrastructures and capacity transfer on DRRM and CCA to the provincial and municipal officials.

Through Climate Fellowship Grant, it provides an opportunity for young people to work with the provincial and local government to strengthen their climate and disaster related plans and policies. With the increasing and intensifying extreme climate events, DRRM has been a priority of all three tiers of governments. However, there is a gap in the implementation and localization of the prepared plans and policies on DRRM and CCA. Through Climate Fellowship, young people will act as a connecting bridge to transfer the technical capacities and bridge the data gap that exists at the provincial and local level to support informed decision making. Young people are the critical stakeholders to fight climate change, respond to extreme climate events, and transform a better world for living as they are at the forefront of climate action. They are also the ones to face the collective impacts of climate change actions and inaction. They can be advocates to revitalize public connections, raise awareness, and generate innovative ideas to adapt to the climate crisis.

Application Summary

Application must be completed online and consists of the following components:

1. Personal Information 
2. Motivation Letter (Max. 300 words)
3. CV/Resume (CV no longer than 2 pages)
4. One Reference letter (Academic Recommended)

While preparing for the application process, please ensure the following:

1. Motivation letter stating your interest and qualification for the Climate Fellowship Grant
2. Your CV/Resume in pdf
3. Recommendation letter from your academic institution or workplace in pdf format

Project Municipalities

Note: One Climate Fellow will be stationed at the province ministry.

Climate Fellowship Duration

Five months

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

To be eligible as Climate Fellows, the individual must:

• Be 29 years old or younger Nepali citizen at the nomination
• Have a bachelor’s degree in Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change, Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Geomatics Engineering, Development Studies, Natural Resources, Crisis Management, or related field
• Be local from the project municipalities or willing to relocate to the project municipality
• Have knowledge of or interest in disaster/Climate/DRRM/CCA and related discipline
• Have an interest in learning technology and open data
• Be curious to work with province and municipal personnel
• Have a strong knowledge of technology that includes mobile apps, web app, MS office package
• Have excellent communication skills in Nepali and English. A knowledge of the local language would be preferred
• Have passion to learn Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) through DRRM/CCA
• Have outstanding personal character and integrity
• Have teamwork and collaborative skills
• Have ability to work in a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary team
• Have ability, willingness, and possibility to raise awareness among the persons belonging to minorities or their respective communities

Key Responsibilities of the Climate Fellows

Climate Fellows will be responsible for: 

• Supporting assigned municipality to strengthen the Climate Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan
• Conducting Vulnerability Capacity Assessment at assigned municipality together with the municipal government
• Supporting the development of Local Disaster and Climate Resilient Plan (LDCRP) of the assigned municipal government
• Supporting assigned province or municipal government to administer and operationalize level BIPAD portal
• Collaborating with the IT officer and DRR focal personnel for day-to-day capacity transfer
• Working closely with provincial and municipal personnel to compile DRR related datasets and standardize and integrate them into BIPAD
• Working with provincial and municipal personnel to map and validate critical infrastructure datasets like education, health, finance, governance, tourism, industry, communication, and more
• Reporting and documenting the progress/challenges and sharing the lesson learnt

Benefits for Climate Fellows

• Climate Fellowship Grant of NPR 300,000.00* (Three Lakhs Nepalese Rupees)
• Note: Inclusive of Monthly Stipend, Travel Allowance, Meeting Facilitation, Training Cost etc.)
• Five-day residential training on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), Vulnerability Capacity Assessment (VCA), Local Disaster and Climate Resilient Plan (LDCRP) and Disaster Information Management System (DIMS)
• Capacity building training and orientations
• Opportunity to work closely with  Mayor,  CAO, elected representatives, IT professionals, and Government officials at working stations
• Opportunity to participate in workshops/trainings/seminars organized by  Nepal Government,  and respective municipality
  
• Opportunity to broaden their understanding of social issues and enhance their ability to engage in meaningful dialogue with people from different backgrounds
  
• Graduation Certificate of the Climate Fellowship
• Potential job placement within YI-Lab, partners, and related organizations

Online Application

The interested candidates for the Climate Fellowship Grant should submit the application in the online form provided. The online form has two main sections:

• Personal Information – Provide personal information such as contact details and your educational and professional background and upload your picture (Passport size photo, no larger than 2 MB)
• Written section – Write about your motivation to apply for Climate Fellowship and upload CV/Resume and a recommendation letter

Guidelines for Reference

• The duration of the time and context in which they have known the applicant,
• Their opinion of the applicant’s background, qualifications, experiences, achievements and accomplishments
• Their opinion on the applicant’s leadership quality and capability
• Letter could be written in English or Nepali
• Ensure that recommendation letter is received prior so that you have enough time to upload in the online application
• Draft the letter in the file format MS Word Document or PDF
• Sign their name, official position and contact information

Applying Procedure

Please complete the online form (https://bit.ly/3mdnjua) to submit your application. For more information on Climate Fellowship Grant, please visit https://theyouthcan.org/climate-fellowship and if you have any inquiries, please contact Fellowship Secretariat at fellowship@youthinnovationlab.org.

We highly encourage all the interested applicants, especially youth from project municipalities including those who identify as women and indigenous community members/ minority caste groups in joining Climate Fellowship. 

Application Timeline

Application Opens- 3 March 2023

Application Deadline- 26 March 2023 (midnight)