In 2026, 91 grants have been awarded by the European Youth Foundation for youth initiatives implemented by national, international and regional networks of youth organisations.

All of them contribute to one or more of the four thematic priorities of the Council of Europe youth sector.

Out of those, 27 grants have been awarded for one-off international co-operation activities and 21 for long term co-operation activities. All youth initiatives  support organisational development, leadership skills building, empowerment of vulnerable or marginalised groups for political participation, human rights education and peace building, climate action, developing skills on AI tools and fighting disinformation, media literacy, mapping anti-rights movements, enhancing gender equality and inclusion of people with disabilities, tackling mental health of young people and creating youth democratic processes to tackle shrinking civic spaces.

Following the Reykjavík Declaration and its principles for democracy, the co-management bodies of the Council of Europe youth sector revised the rules of allocation of structural grants to youth organisation, resulting in the increase of the number of beneficiaries from 32 youth organisations in 2024-2025 to 43 youth organisations for the period 2026-2027.

Decisions of the awarded grants can be consulted at this page.

The EYF team wishes to thank to all the youth organisations and young people that throughout 2025 took meaningful initiatives to promote democracy and human rights and build a culture of peace.