Call for Expression of Interest: National Youth Sounding Boards for Central Asia

What is the Youth Sounding Board?

The YSB is a structured youth advisory mechanism with a 2-years mandate designed to ensure meaningful youth participation in national and regional policy dialogues and governance processes, making youth input a regular part of the process of the EU Delegations’ work. YSB members will provide youth perspectives on EU Delegations’ engagement, contribute to policy discussions, and co-develop recommendations on sustainable development, digital transformation, human rights, and democratic governance programming of the EU Delegations in Central Asia. Each country’s YSBs will meet nationally and regionally on a quarterly and annual basis respectively. 

As a YSB member, you will:

• Influence Policy: Provide youth perspectives to shape EU Delegations’ engagement and co-develop recommendations on key thematic areas of EU Delegations’ work.
• Enhance Your Skills: Receive training, mentorship, and hands-on experience in leadership, advocacy, and policy-making.
• Network and Collaborate: Engage with peers, policymakers, EU Delegations, and key civil society stakeholders at both national and regional levels.
• Drive Change: Be a catalyst for youth-led initiatives that address pressing issues in your community and beyond.

Who Can Apply?

More details are available in the Terms of Reference. We are looking for 10–15 young leaders per country who:

• Are between 18 and 30 years old. Participants must not be older than 30 at the end of the application period. For Turkmen applicants, the upper age limit is 35 years old.
• Are from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan.
• Have experience in youth engagement, advocacy, civil society, or policy-related initiatives.
• Have good communication and digital skills. Knowledge of the state languages of Central Asian states is required. Good command of English is desirable. The working language of the YSBs is Russian.
• Can commit at least 25 days per year to National YSB activities.
• Are passionate about youth empowerment, democracy, human rights and social justice.

The YSB is committed to ensuring representation of diverse youth voices, including young women, persons with disabilities, rural youth and minority groups. All motivated young people are welcome to apply, including those with less experience. Candidates with special needs, disabilities, in situations of vulnerability (including migration background, statelessness, residence in remote areas, etc.) or from minority groups are encouraged to apply. 

Individual applicants should tell us about a project you led on your own, how you rallied others in your community and the real-world impact you achieved — whether that’s the number of people you reached, partnerships you forged or innovative ideas you brought to life.

Youth organizations nominating a member should briefly describe your group’s size and networks, the nominee’s role and responsibilities, and examples of sustained impact that align with our Terms of Reference.

How Are Members Selected?

Application Process:

Applications are welcomed from both individual candidates and/or nominees from youth organizations.

Selection Process:

• Stage 1: Shortlisting based on application submissions.
• Stage 2: Interviews with shortlisted candidates.

Indicative Timeline:

• Application Deadline: June 15, 2025, 23:59 (Almaty time, GMT+5)
• Shortlist: By June 30, 2025 (tentative)
• Interviews: June 30 – July 16, 2025 (tentative)
• Final Results: By July 25, 2025
• First Virtual National YSB Meeting: August 2025
• Regional Offline Meeting: October 2025 (tentative)

Commitment & Activities

• Participate in quarterly national YSB meetings (online/hybrid).
• Engage in one annual fully-funded regional coordination meeting (offline).
• Provide youth perspectives and recommendations for EU and national policies.
• Participate in and benefit from a variety of capacity-building events as part of the YSB mandate.
• Collaboration with civil society and EU representatives to shape youth-led initiatives.
• Participation in the Youth Sounding Board is voluntary; members will only be entitled to transportation and lunch expenses reimbursement for physical events.

How to Apply?

Interested applicants should submit an online application including:

• Personal details (Name, Age, Country, Contact Information).
• Motivation statement (Why do you want to join the YSB, and how can you contribute? 250 words maximum).
• Description of previous experience in youth engagement or policy work (maximum 250 words with relevant links/sources for verification. Make sure to add as much publicly available information about your work as possible - links, videos, articles, etc.).
• Reference or support letter from a youth network, civil society organization, or mentor (recommended).

📅 Application Deadline: June 15, 2025, 23:59 midnight Almaty time (GMT+5)
📩 Submit your application here: Google form

If you have any questions left, please contact: Sergey Marinin at sema@humanrights.dk

Join us in shaping the future of youth participation in Central Asia!