ASEAN Youth Biodiversity Leaders 2020 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Fully Funded)

Young leaders are already taking the future in their hands. Youth-led conservation efforts sucha s awareness raising campagins, coastal clean-ups, online task forces to combat illegal wildlife trafficking via social media, amongst others, are already contributing to the fight against biodiversity loss.

To truly scale young people's impact, the Youth Biodiversity Leaders (YBL) Fellowship provides one year of in-depth capacity building and mentorship and networking opportunities for select young leaders in the region. YBLs will receive training in: (1) Policy and (2) Skills. Fellowship curriculum and content will be delivered through online sessions and in-person activities, in collaboration with the Global Youth Biodiversity Network Southeast Asia regional node (GYBN SEA).

* Specially for the 2020 YBL Cohort, emphasis for the one-year fellowship will be placed on enhancing youth participation in the “super year” for biodiversity—as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011–2020 and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 come to an end in 2020, the world’s governments are discussing the successor to the Strategic Plan, also known as the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, in view of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity “Living in harmony with nature”. This post-2020 framework will be agreed at the 15 th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to be held in October 2020 in Kunming, China. The youth of ASEAN, defined as persons 15 – 35 years old, represent over 33% of the ASEAN population and are a key stakeholder group in contributing to the formulation and implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
The YBL 2020 Cohort, as well as selected 2019 YBLs, will be trained and provided opportunities to actively engage in the post-2020 process. This may involve additional participation in regional and/or international meetings in the Youth Roadmap to COP15 and beyond, depending on the YBL's expertise and availability. Participation in additional meetings after the YBL Academy is optional for the YBL programme. More details will be introduced in the YBL 2020 Academy.

Benefit:
Selected Youth Biodiversity Leaders will receive:

One year in-depth training, mentorship, and networking opportunities to take their conservation impact to the next level
YBL Academy:
- Roundtrip economy airfare (only flights within Southeast Asia will be funded)
- In-country travel, accomodation, and general food expenses covered for the duration of the Academy
Other optional in-person meetings, if selected for that meeting:
- Roundtrip economy airfare
- in-country travel, accommodation, and general food expenses covered for the duration of the meeting
- Visa fees if necessary

Requirement:

Aged 18 - 35 on the application deadline
Citizen of an ASEAN Member State
Residing in the ASEAN region
Ability to communicate in English (trainings, mentorship, and general communication for the programme will be conducted in English)
Able to commit to all compulsory components of the YBL Fellowship programme, including the YBL 2020 Academy in March 2020
Possess a valid passport with expiration after October 2020

Required Documents:

Complete application form (below)
Digital PDF copy of CV
Please label as LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_CV.pdf
Digital copy of identification page of passport
Please label as LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_PASSPORT.pdf or .jpg