Deadline: 31-May-24
The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) is pleased to announce the Partnerships for the Migration and Communication Rights Program to support public voices and participation of poor, marginalised, excluded and migrants communities.
In this context, WACC believes that, now more than ever, migrants’ rights and communication rights advocates should work together to help enable migrants and refugees to gain greater access to information, access communication platforms in order to have their voices heard, develop media literacy skills, and challenge dominant narratives about migration.
Why Enhance the Capacity of Migrant Groups to Engage with Media Organizations?
- In many cases, due to lack of resources or social capital, migrant associations in host and/or transit societies may not be well positioned to engage media organizations to challenge unbalanced media coverage, express their points of view about migration-related issues, and/or to work together to counter xenophobia and other forms of hater speech. In this context, WACC is interested in supporting migrant associations to build the capacity to engage with media organizations in order to help shape public discourses about migration. Some of the ways in which migrant associations can engage with media organizations to advance a rights-based narrative of migration include:
- Researching (media monitoring) the ways in which migrants are represented in media content and employ findings for advocacy
- Implementing joint strategic communications campaigns to tackle xenophobic discourse and/or inform migrants about rights and entitlements.
- Working with community and mainstream journalists and editors interested in giving greater visibility to migration issues from a rights-based perspective and to representing migrants in a balanced and fair way.
- Developing media content banks and journalistic guides focused on migration issues examined from an ethics, gender-sensitive, and human rights-based perspective.
WACC is seeking civil society partners in DAC-list countries in the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Pacific interested in implementing year-long projects that:
- Promote migrants’ right to access to information and to freedom of expression by establishing networks of migrant citizen journalists, especially using a “constructive journalism” approach; and/or
- Enhance the capacity of migrant groups to monitor the ways migration issues are covered in the media and to build relationships with media organizations in order to promote a rights-based narrative of migration.
Why Networks of Migrant Citizen Journalists?
- Citizen journalism offers a way of communicating that is alternative to mainstream media and that is more affordable and accessible. In particular, citizen journalism has the potential to help empower marginalized and excluded peoples and communities to advance their causes and to change their lives.
- Some of the ways in which networks of citizen journalists can contribute to the emergence of a rights-based narrative of migration in their communities and host/transit societies are:
- Producing locally relevant media content about issues affecting migrants and host/transit communities,
- Raising awareness about risks, opportunities, and challenges related to migration issues,
- Disseminating key knowledge and information among new audiences,
- Creating dialogue spaces about migration and human rights issues.
Funding Information
- WACC will contribute up to EUR 10,000 to the project’s budget.
- WACC will support only up to five (5) projects under this call.
Benefits
- In addition to the grant for a year-long project, partners may be eligible to receive the following forms of support as part of their partnership with WACC:
- Opportunity to attend a knowledge sharing event organized by WACC on the theme of sustainable development and media/communication (pending travel restrictions);
- Opportunity to receive a 600 EUR grant to raise public awareness about the organization’s work;
- Opportunity to work with other WACC partners on a joint initiative to identify and present best practices by attending a national, regional or international conference (pending travel restrictions); and/or
- Opportunity to access resource materials on communication rights and on the link between communication and sustainable development via WACC’s virtual forum for its project partners.
Who can apply?
- Civil society organizations legally registered in DAC-list countries in the Pacific, the Middle East, and the Caribbean are eligible to seek support. WACC will check the standing and credibility of applicants. WACC will consider only one application at a time from each organization. WACC does not accept project applications from individuals or government institutions. WACC supports organizations of all faiths and none.
What does WACC not support?
- Projects whose main purpose is income generation
- Emergency appeals to replace destroyed equipment
- Programme that are purely denominational in content and outreach
- Purchases and/or maintenance of land, buildings, offices, and vehicles, and recurring expenditures such as rent and utilities
- Institutional operational costs such as regular staff salaries, endowment fund or revolving fund
- Equipment for purely office administration purposes
- Ongoing projects that started before a request for support
- Ongoing or new periodical publications
- Cost of air-time
- Per diems (although direct cost of food and lodging for project activities is supported)
- Debt repayment, contingency and depreciation
- Proposals from individuals not representing an eligible organisation
- Proposals from government entities
- Applications from previous project holders with a poor reporting track record
- Applications previously declined by WACC
- A total budget of more than 30,000 Euros
For more information, visit WACC.