Deadline: October 13, 2025
The UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub through its Youth Empowerment Portfolio in Asia and the Pacific (YEP-AP) has launched a capacity building and startup support programme aimed at empowering youth and strengthening youth-led social enterprises across Asia-Pacific.
The project will promote and advance youth empowerment in the following focus areas (referred to as pillars): Youth Entrepreneurship (Youth Co:Lab), Youth and Climate Action (YECAP), 21st Century and Digital Skills (YDEEP), Youth Civic Engagement and Political Participation, Leave No One Behind (LNOB).
The programme is designed to provide dedicated technical and community service implementation support to 20 selected youth-led social enterprises across the region, with approximately USD 152,400 allocated for this purpose. These enterprises span countries including Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal and Malaysia. This support will enable startups to strengthen their operations, overcome initial barriers, and deliver impactful solutions that address climate change, food security, public health, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and livelihoods in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to startup support, the initiative will organize 50 workshops, of which 4 will be hybrid and 46 virtual, to build youth capacity in climate leadership, workforce readiness, green jobs, and digital inclusion. These sessions will be delivered under the #Movers4GreenJobs and YDEEP initiatives and are expected to reach at least 3,000 young participants across 12 Asia-Pacific countries. The training-of-trainers model will ensure sustainability and scalability of these efforts, empowering young leaders to replicate the sessions within their own communities.
The programme emphasizes inclusive participation, with a mandate that at least 50% of youth participants come from underserved or marginalized communities. Monitoring and evaluation mechanisms will ensure quality and measure the impact of both workshops and community service initiatives, with the aim of creating long-term sustainable development outcomes.
Running from November 2025 to December 2026, this project will be managed by the UNDP Bangkok Regional Hub in collaboration with UNDP India, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre, UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development in Singapore, and the UNDP Representation Office in Tokyo.
For more information, visit UNDP.
