Youth Voice

The Trinity Challenge Youth Engagement and Advocacy

The Trinity Challenge is proud to support the next generation of health leaders through its Global Youth Summit and Youth Competition programme. This initiative empowers youth-led organisations and young leaders to take action in their communities. Our current focus is on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and our young leaders are promoting awareness, initiating behaviour change, and advocating for the effective use of antibiotics across human and animal health. We are building a global network of change makers, international organisations and global health activists.

The Trinity Challenge Youth Competition – Educating for Behaviour Change

Applications to the Trinity Challenge Youth Competition on Educating for Behaviour Change open are now open and close on Tuesday 30 September at 17:00 BST. The application form can be found here.

Youth-led teams of 3 or more people can apply for up to £7,500 in grant funding to develop a behaviour change campaign in one of six categories, which can be tailored to their community or geographical context –

• Livestock animals
• Companion animals
• Environment
• Food chain
• Language
• Community health

A description of each category can be found in FAQs below.

Our aim is to support youth voices globally by selecting winners in each region, as defined by the World Bank. This will be subject to applications and review by the independent Judging Panel.

To be eligible, the majority of team members must be 18 – 35 years old and the team must be part of, or supported by, a legally registered organisation, who will receive the grant and be liable for the agreement. The campaign must be delivered within 6 months.

Full eligibility criteria and evaluation criteria, as well as frequently asked questions, can be found below.

The winning campaigns will be announced in early 2026. Winners will be invited to attend an online winners event to share their campaign plan, speak with experts and access additional support to deliver the campaign.

We will be hosting an Application Q&A webinar on Thursday 18 September at 14:00 BST. If you have questions about the application process, judging or any other part of the competition, sign up here.

You may also ask questions by email using [email protected].

Eligibility Criteria

To apply for to the Youth Competition, applicants must:

• Complete the online application form by 17:00 BST on 30 September 2025
• Be part of a team of 3 or more, of whom the majority must be aged 18 – 35
• Have a designated team lead who is 18 – 35 years old
• Be supported by an organisation*, who –
  • Are legally registered in their home jurisdiction
  • Has a bank account registered to that organisation and can receive international grants
  • Agrees to be liable for the Grant Agreement with the Trinity Challenge
  • Agrees to manage funds on behalf of the team
  • Has a demonstrable commitment to raising awareness of antimicrobial resistance

* Team members are not required to be employees of the organisation, but will be required to have a formal arrangement with the organisation in order to deliver the campaign. Winners will be required to provide a formal letter of support from the organisation. The organisation must adhere to the criteria set out below.

Funding will not be awarded to any of the following:

• Any donor that has made a financial contribution to the Youth Summit or Competition
• Any applicant that fails the Trinity Challenge due diligence checks
• Any applicant that does not agree to the Trinity Challenge Grant Agreement
• A submission from an organisation or team operating in a sanctioned country
• For-profit companies that fulfil (or are controlled by a for-profit group that fulfils) any two of the following conditions:
  • Annual revenue/turnover in excess of £50 million per year
  • Balance sheet net assets in excess £20 million
  • Average monthly FTE employees in excess of 250
• Project Teams from winning teams of Youth Competition 1 (WASH & Schools) or Youth Competition 2 (Biosecurity). See FAQs for more details.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by the Judging Panel, according to the following criteria. We encourage you to consider this criteria whilst writing your application.

1. Innovation: Creativity and originality of the campaign delivery
2. Impact: Reach, Potential to raise awareness and effectively mitigate AMR
3. Feasibility: Practicality and sustainability of the campaign
4. Collaboration: Level of co-design between experts and young people
5. Presentation: Clarity, persuasiveness, and professionalism of the application

During winner selection, additional consideration will be given to Global Representation. Where possible, winners will represent different regions and/or countries in order to highlight a diversity of youth voices and perspectives. We use the World Bank definition of regions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does our campaign need to focus on ‘Educating for Behaviour Change’?

Yes, the campaign proposal must be based on changing behaviour around antibiotic use to mitigate resistance, however the content of your campaign can approach this topic in any number of ways. Campaigns must be framed specifically around one of six categories:

• Livestock animals
• Companion animals
• Environment
• Food chain
• Language
• Community health

Funds will be awarded to the campaign ideas that tackle their chosen category in the most innovative and impactful way, as per the Evaluation Criteria.

Our categories cover animal health, human health and the environment as well as an important consideration of the language that we use to communicate effectively. The “One Health” approach summarises a concept that has been known for more than a century; that human, animal and plant health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems in which they exist.

A broad description of each category is given below –

Livestock animals: Antibiotics are often used not only to prevent & treat infection but to promote growth in food animals. Overuse can lead to resistant bacteria that spreads through animals, humans and the environment, affecting health, food security and livelihoods. Good management, hygiene, and disease prevention measures (biosecurity) reduce the need for antibiotics and protect their effectiveness.

Companion animals: Pets share close physical contact with people. If companion animals carry resistant bacteria, these can transfer to owners and communities, and vice-versa. Challenges can include overprescription or misuse of antibiotics, owner pressure to prescribe, and limited regulation. Responsible antibiotic use in veterinary care and by owners is crucial to prevent bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Environment: Soil, rivers, lakes, and oceans can act as a reservoir and transmission route for resistant bacteria. Lack of access to safe sanitation for humans, as well as waste from farms increases seeding of the environment with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Furthermore, pharmaceutical runoff and human/animal waste carrying antibiotic residues increases the amount of antibiotics that environmental bacteria are exposed to, creating “hotspots” where resistant bacteria can multiply and spread, eventually reaching humans and animals. Reducing source pollution, improving farming and aquaculture practices, increasing access to clean water and safe sanitation, and reducing contamination and monitoring can all help to break this cycle.

Food chain: AMR can move ‘from farm to fork’. Treating animals with antibiotics increases the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in and on livestock, which during slaughter can contaminate carcasses and meat, transferred to humans and in the kitchen by improper handling or processing. Ingesting food contaminated with AMR pathogens may lead to further transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. There is also the economic impact on our food security. Strengthening food safety, hygiene, surveillance, and monitoring is key to reducing the risks and impact of AMR.

Language: Effective communication about AMR – using clear, culturally sensitive language – ensures people understand the risks, avoid misuse of antibiotics, and support local/global prevention strategies. Poor or misleading language risks confusion, stigma, or complacency.

Community health: AMR undermines the ability to treat infections in people, turning routine illnesses into potentially life-threatening conditions. It increases hospital stays, healthcare costs, mortality and illness rates, and can have major social consequences due to inability to work, finances for families etc. The vast majority of access to antibiotics happens at the community level worldwide, therefore community engagement is vital to promote responsible antibiotic use and infection prevention.

Where does our campaign have to be delivered?

Your campaign should serve the audience that you have identified and the location of your activity will reflect this. It may be local, national, regional or global. However, all plans must be feasible as per the Evaluation Criteria and so we encourage you to set ambitious, but realistic goals when it comes to reach.

Do team members have to be part of the named organisation?

The ‘Contracting Organisation’ named in the team’s application will be liable for the Trinity Challenge’s grant agreement and therefore will ultimately be responsible for the delivery of the campaign and managing the funding. Whilst team members can be independent of the organisation (either fully or in part), a formal arrangement will be required between these two parties for the campaign to be delivered. The form of this agreement is at the discretion of the Contracting Organisation. A formal letter of support from the organisation will need to be provided by winners during due diligence to evidence their arrangement.

What sizes should teams be?

Teams can have a minimum of 3 people and there is no maximum. The majority of the team must be aged 18-35 years old – e.g. in a team of 3, at least 2 members must be 18-35. Each team will have a designated ‘Team Lead’, who must be 18-35 years old. Team members named in your application should be those that have a direct, demonstrable role in delivering the campaign – e.g. campaign manager, marketing, outreach, etc. You are not required to name or count those that provide supplementary services to the core team – e.g. HR, finance, etc.

Can winners of the Trinity Challenge Youth Competition 1 (WASH & Schools) or Youth Competition 2 (Biosecurity) be eligible to apply?

Winning teams from the previous Youth Competitions are not eligible to win the Competition on Educating for Behaviour Change. Individual team members from previous winners may be part of a new team, but the new team’s composition must be significantly different to that of the previous winners and may not have the same team lead. Contracting organisations may be the same as those associated with previous winners, but with a new team delivering the campaign.

Do teams have to have attended the Youth Summit to apply?

No. However, the Youth Summit provided context for developing campaigns and we recommend viewing the recordings if you were unable to attend.

When does the campaign have to be delivered?

Campaign activity can commence once the Trinity Challenge grant agreement has been signed – which is estimated to be by February 2026. Contractually, winners will have 6 months from the Grant Agreement being signed to develop, deliver and report on their campaign. In practice, the duration of each winner’s campaign will differ according to its specific activity – as set out in the application form.

What can funds be spent on?

Grant funds can be spent on costs directly relating to the delivery of the campaign, such as personnel, materials, events, marketing, and other expenses. Budgets may not include organisational overheads. You may include up to 2% contingency. All costs must be presented in £ GBP for the purposes of the application. All funding must be spent within 6 months of the Grant Agreement being signed as per your application, with any unspent balance returned to the Trinity Challenge.

What are the reporting requirements?

Winners will be asked to stay in regular communication with the Trinity Challenge throughout the grant period, with their campaigns being amplified by the Trinity Challenge team. Each team will be required to provide a final campaign report, including impact measurement, and a reconciled budget at the end of the grant period (6 months from the point of signature).

Wash in Schools

Our first Youth Summit and Competition launched in 2024, with the aim of addressing the antibiotic emergency through local awareness and behaviour change campaigns focused on WASH and schools, as decided by summit attendees. We received 97 applications from 46 countries, and selected winners based on feasibility, impact, and innovation.

Each team received seed funding and mentoring to deliver their campaigns in 2024/25. You can find out more about the winning teams by watching their 1 minute pitch videos here.

Congratulations to our winning teams

• Bridging Traditions – India
• Handwashing Heroes – Ecuador & Guatemala
• JE-RAM Rural Communities – Ecuador & Guatemala
• WASH Away Antimicrobial Resistance – Nepal
• WASH Champions – Uganda
• WASH Heroes: Kids in Action – Kazakhstan
• WASH off AMR – Nigeria

With thanks to our Judges

• Siya Verma – Research Assistant at Deliberative Democracy Lab Stanford University
• Taek Yong Kim – Research Assistant at Deliberative Democracy Lab Stanford University
• Augusto Baron – Specialist in Public Health, The Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Daniel Waruingi – Capacity Development and Youth Engagement Manager, ReACT Africa
• Randa Ahmed Bazzi – Veterinarian and Specialist in Public Health, The Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Karina Khatic – Veterinary Student and Trustee Member of the International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA), The Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
• Liz Callegari – Director, Black Sands
• Rachel Bloodworth – Director, Black Sands
• Hafeez Hamza – AMR Youth Liaison Officer, Ducit Blue
• Rhian Foley – Senior Advocacy Adviser, Wateraid
• Marc Mendelson – Director and AMR expert, The Trinity Challenge.

Resources & Contact

The Trinity Challenge continues to support youth-led initiatives through advocacy resources, partner toolkits and recorded sessions.

Statements/manifestos:

• WHO Youth Manifesto on AMR
• African Youth Position Statement on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) – coordinated by ReAct

AMR Toolkits and frameworks

• ReAct Campaign Toolkit
• WHO AMR Educational Toolkit
• Meaningful engagement of patients, survivors and carers in addressing antimicrobial resistance – WHO Taskforce of AMR Survivors
• Free health education resources: e-Bug
• OUCRU – Youth against AMR Framework 

Watch summit session recordings and lots more on our YouTube channel.

Contact: Jennie Smith – jennie.smith@thetrinitychallenge.org