Call for Projects: UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals

Deadline: 28-Feb-23

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with funding from the Kingdom of Norway, launches a call open to governments and public institutions of UNESCO Member States, as well as to civil society organizations, to support initiatives aimed at protecting and promoting artistic freedom, including the status of the artist.

Objectives

This call for projects under the UNESCO-Aschberg programme aims to support initiatives by governments and civil society organizations whose objective is to protect and promote artistic freedom, including the status of the artist, in the broad sense, that is to say:

• The right to have artistic work supported, distributed, and remunerated.
• Artists’ right to freedom of movement.
• Artists’ right to freedom of association.
• The protection of the social and economic rights of artists.
• Everyone’s right to participate in cultural life.
• The right to create without censorship.

Tracks

This call for projects includes two tracks:

• Track 1, open to governments and public institutions: technical assistance aimed at revising or designing new regulatory frameworks (laws, policies, measures, etc.) that protect and promote artistic freedom, including the status of the artist and cultural professionals. 1
• Track 2, open to civil society organizations: financial assistance in the implementation of innovative projects aimed at advancing the issue of artistic freedom, including the status of the artist at the local, national, regional or international level (e.g., capacity building, advocacy, monitoring and research activities, etc.).

Eligibility Criteria

• For Track 1:
  • Eligible Countries
    • Governments and public institutions of UNESCO Member States are eligible. Priority will be given to developing countries, those which have not yet been supported by UNESCO under the UNESCO-Aschberg programme and those which respond to UNESCO’s strategic priorities (Africa, gender equality, small island developing states (SIDS), youth and inter-sectorality).
  • Who can submit a project proposal to Track 1 (technical assistance to governments and public institutions)?
  • Applicants should be a national government/public institution whose mandate is relevant for the advancement of artistic freedom, including the status of the artist and cultural professionals, for example:
    • National ministries (Culture, Finance, Labour, Tourism, Communication, Social Affairs, etc.)
    • National arts councils and specialized committees concerned with arts, cultural and creative industries.
    • National Parliaments and/or their special thematic commissions.
  • Requirements for applications
    • While the applicant is to fill in all sections included in the application, particular attention should be paid to the importance of composing a multi-stakeholder national team involving not only various governmental bodies but also relevant civil society organizations.
    • The applicant is also to highlight how to promote gender equality in the course of the implementation of technical assistance.
  • In addition to the technical expertise provided by the UNESCO-Aschberg programme through national/international experts, financial support for up to 30,000 USD can be requested in order to support the logistics of the project’s implementation (e.g., the logistical organization of meetings/consultations/capacity-building activities, funding of communication activities, etc.). The applicant is therefore invited to present a preliminary budget and the planned activities, as indicated in the application form. This support can be decentralized to the applicant or to the relevant UNESCO Field Office. In case of contractual agreement between UNESCO and the applicant, UNESCO will follow its own rules and regulations.
• For Track 2:
  • Applicants should be local, national, regional or international civil society organizations (not-for-profit entities) based in a UNESCO Member State country, including, for example:
    • Non-governmental organizations that promote artistic freedom, and associations and foundations active in the cultural and creative industries, including cultural and professional associations,
    • Networks or unions of artists and cultural professionals,
    • Academic institutions and research centres.
  • Requirements for applicants.
    • To have at least two (02) years of legal existence (provide proof of legal registration);
    • To have directly implemented, over the past two years, at least one project in the cultural and creative sector (provide activity reports and financial statements for the past two years, 2020-2021).

For more information, visit UNESCO.