At the Award we believe in the power of partnership.
The Award equips young people with the skills they need for life regardless of their background, culture, physical ability or interests. On an individual level this can make a transformational difference to a young person’s life; on a collective basis, it has the power to bring significant change to wider society.
There are several different type of partnership, both operational and organisational, that The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award works with. We strive to create bespoke mutually-beneficial and value-driven partnerships, to increase the access, reach and impact of the Award globally.
In order to help achieve this, we work with hundreds of thousands of youth-focused partners and operators around the world, including schools, youth organisations, examination boards and youth offender institutions: To find out more about our Operating Partners, please click here.
Different types of organisational partnerships with work alongside:
Corporate
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award operates in more than 130 countries and territories, helping to inspire millions of young people. The Award encourages young people to learn new skills, get physically active, volunteer within their communities and discover a sense of adventure outside the classroom. It offers young people opportunities that help them unlock their potential and be ready for their world, whatever that world may be.
The Award can enhance your business’s continuous professional development by providing a framework for your future young employees, which challenges young people to dream big, celebrate their achievements and make a difference in their world.
Non-formal education and learning plays a role in the development of skills such as resilience, confidence and communication. The Award focuses on allowing young people to step outside of their comfort zone; to try, test and reassess new ways of doing things in new and unfamiliar settings. This set framework encourages young people to explore new frontiers, push their limits, and learn from both their successes and their mistakes.
Research has shown that the Award has the power to transform the lives of young people and equip them to be confident, resilient, and adaptable global citizens. Around the world, employers have started to recognise the edge the Award gives their employees, and now, the International Award Foundation (IAF) is working directly with business like yours, to give their young employees the chance to take on the Award.
Global examples of partnership with businesses
Advocacy
We strive to create bespoke mutually-beneficial and value-driven partnerships, to increase the access, reach and impact of the Award globally. We collaborate with key organisations to empower young people and deliver the Award through dedicated projects. Successful collaborations to date include working with the Commonwealth; and with the Varkey Foundation.
The Big Six
Whilst partnerships vary from country to country, we also work with some organisations in a much more global context. Around the world, the Award works closely with, and is part of the ‘Big Six’ – six global youth volunteer and membership organisations, consisting of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM), the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
Collectively, these organisations reach more than 100 million young people in over 200 countries and territories.
Global Youth Mobilization (GYM)
Global Youth Mobilization is a movement of young people taking action to improve their lives and communities in a post-COVID-19 world.
Supported by the world’s largest global youth organisations, of which the Award is one, as well as the World Health Organization, and United Nations Foundation, the GYM partnership aims to address the negative impact of the pandemic on young people and support them to build back better.
There are an estimated 1.2 billion young people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic response measures. Disruptions to education, employment, services and social support have changed the future of an entire generation.
It is more important than ever that governments, policy makers, academics, business leaders and civil society come together to find innovative ways of supporting communities and providing hope to younger generations.
With support from the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, GYM supports and scales-up youth-led solutions and youth engagement programs across the world.
Young people are an essential part of the solution to pandemic recovery. Investing in programs, policies and initiatives led by and for young people will bring about sustainable change in the livelihoods and health of young people now and in the future.
Stand By Me
Since the beginning of war, over 7.2 million refugees – the vast majority of them children and women – have fled across Europe. Facing immediate challenges accessing basic services, refugee children and young people will also experience the long-term impacts of the war as they start to rebuild their lives and recover from the suffering they endured.
Stand By Me is a ground-breaking partnership, which sees The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia partner with UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, on a two-year project to provide vital support to young people who have been displaced or impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Working in collaboration with UNICEF, the Stand By Me programme will leverage the Award’s framework for non-formal education and learning as a tool for community cohesion. It will enable displaced young Ukrainians to continue their studies and prepare for work and for life, whilst also offering crucial moral and peer support via a young Czech, Slovak or Romanian buddy over a two-year period.
The partnership will align UNICEF’s operational expertise in humanitarian crises with the existing infrastructure and presence of the Award, allowing Stand By Me to be rolled out quickly and efficiently across the three countries.
The Award in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia initiated the scheme to facilitate communication and mitigate the impact of the war in Ukraine on young people. The partnership will enable young people in these host countries, to support their peers as they flee war-torn Ukraine. It aims to help them to integrate them into schools, communities and society.
