Background
The idea to establish an international fund to assist blind and partially sighted young people was conceived by Mr. Pedro Zurita, the Secretary General of the World Blind Union from 1986-2000, who also made the first contribution to the Fund and committed to annual contributions thereafter.
The purpose of the fund is to assist young blind and partially sighted people financially to obtain education, training and employment.
Eligibility
Blind and partially sighted young men and women not younger than 15 and not older than 30 years old are eligible to apply for assistance. Applicants from developing countries will be given priority although applications from youth in industrialized countries may be accepted in special cases.
Guidelines
- Funding may be available for courses of study or programs with a duration of more than one year, but funding is not guaranteed for the full period of the course of study.
- For funding support beyond one year, the request must be supported by a new application and a report from the educational institution or program being attended by the student.
- A Maximum of US$1500 is granted for any one applicant, with the average award being approximately $500.
- Applicants must be blind or partially sighted youth not less than 15 and not more than 30 years of age.
- All efforts will be made to ensure gender equity in the awarding of funding support.
- Priority is given to youth from developing countries.
- Support can be provided for such things as tuition fees, vocational training fees, equipment costs, start-up costs for self-employment.
- The national member in the country in which the applicant lives must provide a letter of support for the application.
- Applications must be accompanied by a 500-word essay by the applicant about why this course/program/training is important to him or her.
- The application form for funding support must be completed and submitted electronically at any time throughout the year to the World Blind Union office located at 1929 Bayview Avenue in Toronto Ontario Canada M4G 3E8, email: info@wbu.ngo
Revised: September, 2009
Pedro Zurita Youth Fund – Application Form