EU-JFJ partnership awards €30,000 for youth-focused human rights projects

Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), with funding from the European Union, has awarded two sub-contracts totalling €30,000 to the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN) and the Mico Foundation to implement youth-focused activities under the JFJ-led three-year project titled Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Jamaica through Education, Advocacy, and Legal Support Services.

JYAN will receive €15,000 for the YouthVoices: Empowering Young Persons to Advocate for their Rights project, while the Mico Foundation will receive €15,000 for the Citizens’ Rights, Roles, Responsibilities & Practices Survey project. The two projects commenced May 2025 and will be implemented over an eight month period.

The YouthVoices project, led by JYAN, aims to enhance the capacity of Jamaican youth aged 15-25 years to understand, advocate for, and address human rights violations, fostering youth self-representation. It will engage at least 200 student leaders and youth advocates through human rights advocacy workshops and student advocacy sensitisation sessions. It will also produce infographics, short videos and blogs to raise awareness of human rights issues.

Meanwhile, Mico Foundation will conduct a survey among marginalised citizens, including youths, across selected communities in Jamaica. The study will assess civic awareness, trust in institutions, human rights violations, and barriers to reporting, providing data-driven insights to inform youth-focused advocacy and policy recommendations.

Mickel Jackson, executive director of Jamaicans for Justice, stated: “These projects represent a powerful step toward empowering young people, and the wider citizenry, to advocate for their rights and hold duty bearers accountable through self-representation. By partnering with JYAN and the Mico Foundation, and with the generous support of the European Union, we are building a stronger foundation for human rights education and evidence-based advocacy in Jamaica.”

Shannique Bowden, executive director of JYAN states “The empowerment of young people to realise and advocate for their rights is a key part of JYAN’s mandate. Through this partnership with JFJ and the EU, we will be able to engage youth and youth groups around issues affecting them and work together towards actionable change. We are especially keen to focus on student advocacy, and we want to do our part to ensure our students are empowered to advocate for themselves and make meaningful change.”

The Mico Foundation expressed that it is pleased to participate in the project by providing evidence and the views of citizens by way of the funded research. “This EU grant strengthens our commitment to national development through education and research,” said Burchell Duhaney, secretary manager of the Mico Foundation, whose research team, led by Sandra Grey-Alvaranga at The Mico University College’s Institute of Technology and Education Research, drives the initiative.

“The European Union continues to provide support to civil society actions that strengthen the voice and citizenship of youth out of a recognition of how fundamental their contribution is to modern social development, as well as the value added by youth as actors of democracy, and the dangers of young people having no stake in society,” expressed Vanna Lawrence, programme manager with the European Union.

Both projects align with JFJ’s mission to strengthen evidence-based advocacy and the European Union’s commitment to promoting human rights and governance.