European Commission Grants for Enhancing Journalists Rights in Macedonia

Deadline: 27-Apr-22

The European Commission (EC) is calling for proposals for Enhancing Journalists Rights Grant Programme that aims to contribute to North Macedonia strengthening of the rule of law and respect of fundamental rights, i.e. especially freedom of expression and of the media more conducive environment for freedom of expression through the respect of economic and social rights of journalists.

Objectives

• The global objective of this call for proposals is to strengthened freedom of expression, through enhancing the role of various media associations/civil society organisations in their active promotion and advocacy for effective protection of the labour and social rights of journalists.
• The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals are:
  • Support media organisations and journalists professional associations to actively promote and protect journalistic profession in dialogue with authorities, media owners, and other stakeholders aimed to create conducive environment for freedom of expression/media.
  • Support CSOs/media association initiatives aimed to improve economic and social rights of journalists and media workers, promote and monitor respect of labour laws, raise awareness on international and EU standards and best practices.

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are:

• Raise awareness about importance of journalists’ profession, right to union organisation – support activities and awareness raising campaigns to ensure positive recognition of the important role journalists and media workers play. Support signing of collective agreements with broadcasters, national, regional, local and online media respectively. Raise individual cases related inter alia to labour rights, right to be a member of a union, role of investigative journalism, gender equality, media literacy, etc. Promote measures to prevent, combat and respond to all forms of violence against journalists, including threats of and incitement to violence, insulting or denigrating journalists, or exerting undue pressure, etc.
• Promote professional standards and capacity building – support and advocate media workers to have access to professional training and development, both vocational and academic, throughout their career.
• Assist state authorities in developing and implementing laws, regulations and policies protecting journalists/media workers economic and social rights – Promote decent work and a human-centred future of work through an updated EU approach ensuring the respect of fundamental principles and rights at work, the right to safe and healthy working conditions, and a world of work free of violence and harassment. Increase the number of members in journalist union and organisations in local media, in regional media, in the five biggest television stations, and in online media. Establish closer strategic and organisational collaboration among journalist and media organisations in order to increase the capacity to work for better labour and social rights for journalists and media workers enabling them to keep political and economic interests accountable and promote freedom of speech.
• Foster international/EU best practice exchanges on enhancing journalists economic and social rights. Carry out researches and (meta)analyses on the economic viability of the media sector, offer new business and funding models for media outlets, etc. Provide capacity-building and other support to enable national authorities to develop and implement relevant international standards effectively. Support analyses of models for possible future media sector support and for public advertising that is based on objective criteria, politically independent and potentially can support the roles of watchdogs and promoters of press freedoms from journalists and media.

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 500,000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 90,000
  • maximum amount: EUR 150,000.
• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum percentages of total eligible costs of the action:
  • Minimum percentage: 60% of the total eligible costs of the action.
  • Maximum percentage: 95% of the total eligible costs of the action.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person
    • be non-profit-making
    • be a specific type of organisation such as: civil society organisations
    • be established in the Republic of North Macedonia
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
• Co-applicant(s)
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate.
  • If awarded the grant contract, the co-applicant(s) (if any) will become beneficiary(ies) in the action (together with the coordinator)
• Affiliated entities
  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).
  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):
  • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
  • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
  • Control, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
    • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
      • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
      • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
      • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
  • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association,…) as the proposed affiliated entities.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3qlYdrV