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Youth Action Challenge (YAC)
Youths want to have a stake in their future and champion issues they care deeply for. YAC is a structured six-month programme that gives youths the opportunity to act on their passions and co-create an inclusive, sustainable and progressive Singapore.
Last updated 31 July 2025
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Mentors and advisors help youths ideate solutions that can drive meaningful change within the community at the national level. Born from the SG Youth Action Plan, the Youth Action Challenge (YAC) is one of several programmes the National Youth Council (NYC) Singapore offers youths to pursue their aspirations and shape the future they want.
Find out more about NYC’s youth development programmes.
Find out more about YAC's Participatory Budgeting exercise.
Youth Action Challenge
The Youth Action Challenge (YAC) is a key thrust of the SG Youth Action Plan (SG YAP), empowering youths to champion ground-up initiatives in partnership with government, businesses and community organisations. The programme provides opportunities for youths to turn their ideas into reality through a series of curated workshop, mentorship and guidance from experienced industry professionals.
Youth Agency
The Evolution of Youth Action in Singapore has galvanized the Government, businesses and civil society to come together and create a nurturing ecosystem for youths to thrive. Partnerships with the private, people and public sectors enable NYC to expand our networks and broaden the range of development opportunities youths can tap on to discover their potential.
Since NYC formalised our partnership with Citi Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2019 for the YAC (left), countless youths have launched successful initiatives in mental health, environment & sustainability issues, inclusivity and support for society’s vulnerable. Watch Chief Executive Officer of NYC, David Chua share about Why Partners Are Important To Us for youth agency.
Youth Action Challenge (YAC) Projects
Over 180 youths were guided by industry experts, government representatives and mentors at the last Youth Action Challenge Season 6 (October’24 to April’25).
Get to know some of our teams and themes from all 6 Seasons below. Find out more about
Our teams and themes
Caring & Inclusive Society - Intergenerational Bonding
Rosemadame Craftwork aims to raise awareness about dementia and actively involve youth in the dementia scene through education and engagement.
Caring & Inclusive Society - Caring for Caregivers
Project Accessible Adventures aims to curate Lifestyle Guides for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) primarily using wheelchairs in Singapore, facilitat
Food Security
Project DreamGreen aims to create lasting change in the attitudes and behaviors of everyday Singaporean families toward sustainable living by facilita
Digital Inclusion & Safety
Digi-Up! is dedicated to upskilling and empowering individuals aged 55 and above, helping them adapt to the digital era and overcome challenges in nav
Well-being & Resilience - Financial Literacy
Financial Crusaders is dedicated to addressing the financial literacy gap among students by creating an interactive and user-friendly educational game
Well-being & Resilience - Healthy Living
RunAI addresses the common challenge of people losing interest in running by enhancing the experience with interactive audio gamification and customiz
YAC Partners
"The impact of our community programmes is restricted to the resource of one organisation when we do good as standalone entities, whereas if we come together to synergise our efforts like what Youth Co:Lab has done through the YAC initiative, we become a greater force for good." - Mr Tibor Pandi, Citi Country Officer for Singapore
The Youth Co:Lab initiative is the largest youth movement for empowerment, social entrepreneurship, equality and social inclusion in Asia Pacific.
"As a trisectoral partnership through the YAC, each of us (NYC, Citi and UNDP), has key areas of value-add and, we complement each other to offer a well-rounded programme for our youth innovators in Singapore. In addition, Youth Co:Lab offers exposure at the regional level also to the teams, and crowds-in other resources from our ecosystem partners." - Mr Niloy Banerjee, UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam
Youth Co:Lab Champions from Youth Action Challenge Season 4
Two teams who were crowned Youth Co:Lab Champions from this year’s Youth Action Challenge Season 4 joined other teams and entrepreneurs from around Asia-Pacific to pitch their solutions to challenges faced across the region. Held in Bangkok from 11 to 14 July 2023, three of our youth entrepreneurs from Teams SpedGrow and Project Enigma had the opportunity to attend the Summit to showcase their project and network with fellow entrepreneurs as well as ecosystem builders in the region. Our youths also participated in the Regional Demo Day where young social entrepreneurs like themselves showcased their innovative solutions and ideas in front of other youth entrepreneurs, Venture Capital Companies and representatives from around the region.
Co-organised by UNDP and Citi Foundation, the Youth Co:Lab Summit serves as a key milestone for the regional youth empowerment agenda by positioning young people and their innovative ideas, front and centre to solve the region’s most pressing challenges.
Founder of Project Enigma, Ramu Vairavan, shares his reflections and takeaways from the Youth Co:Lab Summit where he showcased Project Engima’s work and networked with other young entrepreneurs across the region. Read more about his experience.
Support Youth Action
NYC welcomes partners from the public, private and people sectors to contribute as mentors, speakers, industry experts and with incubation space support.