Call for Applications: Young Feminist AI School 2026 (Fully Funded)

Application Deadline: 28 July 2026

About the Programme

The Young Feminist AI School is a free, fully online UN Women programme for young people aged 18 to 30, with a strong focus on young women and girls. Over 12 weeks (August–October 2026), participants learn to use AI for advocacy, policy influence, elections and information integrity, and civic technology, and to handle its risks responsibly. Everyone builds a real project: a campaign, a policy tool, a civic tech prototype or a participation action plan. The School is practical from the first week. Participants spend most of each class doing rather than listening: testing AI tools, writing and checking prompts, and building toward a final project. By graduation, every participant produces one of four products: an advocacy campaign, a policy influence tool, a civic tech prototype or a democratic participation action plan. Nothing goes public until it passes a responsible AI and human rights review covering privacy, consent, bias, verification and human oversight.

Who Can Apply

Young people aged 18 to 30 from any country, with a strong focus on young women and girls. We look for people working on gender equality, youth leadership, civic engagement, advocacy or social justice. You do not need a technical background. The programme reaches young feminist activists, youth leaders, digital rights advocates, campaigners, student leaders and emerging technologists. At least 70 per cent of seats are held for young women and girls, and the School provides accessibility support, captions, low-bandwidth materials and recordings so that taking part does not depend on fast internet or a particular device. No coding background is needed.

What You Will Learn

The curriculum covers practical, hands-on AI skills including:

• Foundations of AI: AI/ML/Deep Learning/Generative AI made practical.
• Responsible AI & Bias Mitigation: fairness, privacy, consent, accessibility, and content credentials.
• Prompt Engineering: direct, few-shot, chaining, chain/tree-of-thought; evaluation and efficiency.
• Custom GPTs & RAG: build mission-aligned copilots with guard-rails and trusted sources.
• AI for Communication & Campaigns: inclusive messaging, multilingual workflows, and safety.
• AI-Generated Media & Storytelling: image/video/audio ethics, alt-text/captions, deepfake awareness.
• Knowledge Management & RBM: auto-tagging, evidence briefs, SDG-linked reporting.
• Thematic Labs: AI × climate action, humanitarian response, disability inclusion, peacebuilding.

Programme Benefits

Participants will gain:

• Free, fully online participation
• Practical AI training with hands-on experience
• Mentorship throughout the programme
• Access to recordings and learning resources
• A completed AI-driven project portfolio
• The opportunity to connect with a global network of young changemakers

Time Commitment

Expect about four hours a week: one 2-hour live class plus roughly 2 hours of practical work. Classes are recorded, so you can catch up if you miss one.

Accessibility

The programme is designed to be inclusive and accessible with:

• Recorded classes
• Closed captions
• Plain-language summaries
• Screen-reader-friendly materials
• Low-bandwidth options
• Individual accessibility support as needed

How to Apply

Submit your online application before the deadline. The application will ask for details about your work on gender equality, civic engagement and your interest in AI.

Application Link: Click here to apply