The revitalised National Youth Service (NYS) programme, one of the components of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), invites nonprofit organisations (NPOs) and nonprofit companies (NPCs) to submit innovative proposals that, through the delivery of community service activities, provide earning and learning opportunities for young people.

The PYEI has been allocated R838-million and most of the funds provided through the employment stimulus go straight from participants’ pockets into their local economy. This supports the informal economy and small enterprises, reaching township and rural economies that are otherwise often by-passed by other measures, the Jobs Fund said in a statement on October 29.

The Jobs Fund has been appointed as the fund manager for the PYEI and has established the Presidential Youth Employment Fund (PYEF), which is inviting proposals from NPOs and NPCs that can participate in the delivery of the NYS programme.

All NPOs and NPCs must submit their applications for the NYS electronically through the Jobs Fund website. Applications will be competitively assessed and, for this reason, no late applications will be accepted. The funding round will open on October 29 and close on November 25 at 15:00.

Interested parties are also invited to attend virtual briefings on November 3 and 5 to learn more about the application process.

In terms of eligibility criteria, NPOs and NPCs must demonstrate their own capacity to engage at least 3 000 banked youth for six months in community service activities or demonstrate the ability to crowd-in and manage a consortium of entities that can successfully assist in meeting the target.

Applicants are encouraged to collaborate and work together to meet the minimum qualifying requirements, a statement issued by the Jobs Fund said.

NPOs and NPCs must have been registered with the relevant department, such as the Department of Social Development, for at least two years and all requisite certificates and proof of registration will be required. Applicants must be in full compliance with administrative requirements, including tax compliance status.

Additionally, NPOs and NPCs must have an existing budget for work with excluded young people and must have a record of more than three years of technical experience in the area of interest and must have the capacity to immediately, upon successful application, implement their intervention.

"Successful applicants should demonstrate how principles of youth development are included in the delivery of community service rather than as separate training programmes.

"While the PYEF expects applications for the implementation of the NYS to be tailor-made and context-specific, to be recognised as part of the Presidential Youth Service, programmes must target young people aged 18 to 35, and provide a minimum of 16 hours a week of active community service in order to allow the youth to engage in other opportunities and to reach more young people at scale," the Jobs Fund said in the statement.

Applicants' proposals and programmes must meaningfully benefit the community in which they take place and be completed to a high standard and facilitate personal growth, values and an ethos of citizenship. Applications must also recruit and enrol young people through the National Pathway Management Network, as well as associated platforms such as SAYouth.mobi.

"Through the NYS programme, young people will be engaged in community service activities in the first year of implementation. This will be progressively scaled up over a five-year period.

The primary aim of the NYS programme is to mobilise young people to become active citizens of the country’s democracy, while earning an income and increasing their employability. The purpose of the community service activities, as envisaged for the NYS programme, is also to enhance service delivery efforts and improve the lives of marginalised communities."

"The PYEI is a multi-sector action programme directed at addressing South Africa’s chronic youth unemployment challenge. Of the 1.2-million young people entering the labour market each year, more than 65% remain outside of employment, education and training.

"Those young people who manage to access opportunities often fall in and out of education and short-term work, which leads to them being unable to realise their potential to participate meaningfully in the economy," the Jobs Fund noted.

The implementation of the PYEI will form an integral part of the post-Covid-19 recovery agenda and will help put South Africa on a path towards a new economy and a new society.