Call for Proposals to Protect Environmental Journalists and Combat Impunity

Deadline: 18-Oct-2024

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization invites not-for-profit organizations to submit proposals aimed at enhancing the legal protection of journalists covering the environment and reducing impunity for crimes against them.

In response to these challenges, UNESCO introduced a Global Roadmap for Information as a public good in the face of the environmental crisis, at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day Conference in Santiago de Chile. This initiative aims to improve the safety of journalists working on environmental issues and advance information integrity by strengthening legal support and funding investigative journalism focused on crimes against these reporters.

This year, UNESCO is specifically calling for partnerships focused on defending environmental journalism by improving legal protection and reducing impunity for cases of crimes against journalists covering the environment by advancing at least one of the following GMDF Outputs:

Output 2: Reinforcing the operationalization of national safety mechanisms and peer support networks to ensure journalists’ rapid access to legal assistance, bolster their defense and enhance their safety, taking into account the gendered nature of the threats against them.

Output 3: Supporting investigative journalism that contributes to reduced impunity for crimes against journalists by holding the justice system accountable and by pursuing investigative work that risks being censored when journalists are attacked, imprisoned, or murdered; and enhances the safety of those conducting this line of work.

Output 4: Enhancing structures for fostering strategic litigation in order to protect national and regional environments where the legal frameworks are conducive to an independent, free, and plural media ecosystems.

Funding Information 

• The size of the financial grants distributed under this Call will range from a minimum USD $15,000 to a maximum $50,000.

Eligibility Criteria

• This Call for Partnerships is open to specialized not-for-profit entities (including, but not limited to, NGOs, media associations, journalists’ unions, human rights defenders, lawyers’ associations and pro bono legal aid organizations, lawyers’ and investigative journalism networks, foundations, and academic institutions, among many others) who have been active and registered as such for at least two years and who meet the criteria established in the Terms of Reference of the Call.

For more information, visit UNESCO.