The objective of the small grants programme is to amplify advocacy efforts undertaken by local, national and regional civil society actors in collaboration with journalists and media organizations and to set topics of media freedom and journalists’ safety on mainstream agenda in the Western Balkans region – more specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kosovo*, Montenegro and Serbia. Hence, the small grants programme will support locally and regionally rooted civil society initiatives, engaging human rights activists, journalists and media, aiming to protect the freedom of expression and freedom of media. The main goal is to explore the most pressing issues – either violations of journalists’ rights, or pressures to activists in a more comprehensive manner.

CSOs registered in EU member states (including Croatia and Slovenia), or in IPA countries not included in this Call (Albania and Turkey) cannot apply in the role of applicants or co-applicants (partners). However they can act as associates or providers of specific services within the project.  Actions must take place in the following five countries of the Western Balkans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo*, FYR of Macedonia and Montenegro. Exceptionally, some actions can take place out of the designated countries, yet within either EU member states or in Albania or Turkey if they contribute to the goals of the project.

The Call has two priorities: (1) to support projects which effectively tackle problems and obstacles faced by journalists who are under various forms of pressure and (2) to support projects which focus on pressures on human rights activists whose freedom of speech is jeopardized.

The total value of the small grants programme is 267 000 EUR, to be disbursed to 15 grantees – 5 larger regional projects and 10 smaller national projects.  The time frame for the implementation of the supported projects is October 1, 2017 – August 31, 2018.

The Call for proposal is organized into two lots:

• LOT 1 – Regional actions,which are expected to include participants from at least 3 out of 5 project WB countries. Average size of grants is 30 000 – 40 000 EUR with a co-financing rate of 10%. Indicatively, a total of 5 regional grants will be disbursed contingent on sufficient applications of high quality
• LOT 2 – National actions,which are expected to include participants within a given country. Average size of grants is 5 000 – 10 000 EUR with a co-financing rate of 10%. Indicatively, a total of 10 national grants will be disbursed, contingent on sufficient applications of high quality.

The small grants programme makes part of a larger project Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety, implemented by Croatian Journalists’ Association (CJA) in partnership with five Western Balkans’ journalists’ organizations – Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (IJAS), Association of BH Journalists (BHJ), Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM) and the Trade Union of Media of Montenegro (TUMM). The project is supported by the European Commission (IPA) with co-financing from the Croatian Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs.

All grant applications will need to be prepared and submitted in English language.

The applications MUST be sent by e-mail to mediafreedom.smallgrants@solidarna.hr by August 31, 2017 at 23:59:59h CET.

The application pack that needs to be submitted by email by the lead applicant must include the following three documents:

1. Application form
2. Project budget
3. Registration act only for the lead applicant, in original language (scanned version).

Please find Application Guidelines HERE.

Questions regarding the propositions of the Call for Proposals can be sent in English language by e-mail in the period July 25 – August 10, 2017 to the e-mail: mediafreedom.smallgrants@solidarna.hr. All questions and answers as well as other important notices to applicants will be published on the official project website no later than 11 days before the deadline (August 20^th) for the submission of applications.

Source: Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety