Deadline: 3-Apr-23
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects that advance freedom of the press and transparency around infrastructure development in Southeast Asia through support for in-depth environmental journalism.
Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and independent journalism have faced significant challenges in Southeast Asia that have been exacerbated due to closing civic space in Asia, including during COVID-19. Nearly all ASEAN Member States rank in the bottom third of the World Press Freedom Index. Journalists who cover environmental issues are under particular threat. They play a critical role in increasing transparency and accountability on environmental issues, often surrounding large infrastructure development projects, pitting them against the interests of powerful political and business elites within their own countries, as well as regional actors.
DRL seeks to support a program that increases transparency and accountability around infrastructure development and its potential impact on marginalized groups and promotes more responsible, human rights protective, climate-focused, and community-driven investment through quality in-depth environmental reporting.
Objectives
The program should be designed to achieve the following objectives:
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Journalists more effectively fulfill their watchdog roles and call attention to environmental degradation and human rights abuses caused by infrastructure development.
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Quality in-depth reporting increases broader public awareness and engagement on infrastructure development debates and advocacy, including among marginalized groups disproportionately impacted by such development.
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Multi-stakeholder engagement on quality investigative reporting leads to government action to promote accountability and rights-respecting investment.
Funding Information
- Total Funding Floor: $1,500,000
- Total Funding Ceiling: $3,000,000
- Anticipated Number of Awards: Approximately 1-2
- Period of Performance: 24 – 36 months
- Anticipated Time to Award, Pending Availability of Funds: 6-8 months
Illustrative Activities
Illustrative activities may include:
- Capacity-building for independent media and journalists in digital and traditional journalism, digital security, and other skills needed to effectively and safely engage audiences online and offline;
- Increasing thematic understanding and advocacy actions among journalists, influencers, and other information providers on critical regional environmental issues and threats;
- Building awareness, understanding, and advocacy actions among local decision-makers and communities on environmental law and environmental degradation caused by weak environmental protection policies and unsustainable and poorly planned infrastructure development, land appropriation, violence against indigenous groups, and disproportionate impact of poor planning and environmental effects on women and girls, etc.;
- Engaging local, regional, and national governments and decision-making bodies in a dialogue to promote action to prevent and remedy critical environmental issues and threats;
- Conducting in-depth, fact-based investigative journalism on environmental and human rights impacts of large-scale infrastructure investments and development, including on the livelihoods of marginalized groups disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation, to raise public awareness and engagement and combat disinformation;
- Aiding journalists in accessing difficult to reach locations of environmental degradation, including providing secure transportation and communication methods;
- Centering marginalized and indigenous communities in reporting on environmental and infrastructure development issues, and ensuring journalists have the knowledge to sensitively engage these groups;
- Building partnerships and networks among journalists, environmental watchdog groups, environmental planners, universities, civil society groups, and private sector to identify critical environmental and human rights challenges and solutions related to infrastructure development, and hold local and national governments accountable;
- Developing or utilizing a regional network of journalists and implement coordinated regional advocacy campaigns;
- Small grant support for in-depth digital discussion of environmental issues in the Southeast Asia region, inclusive of marginalized groups;
- Pairing reporting and digital dissemination with offline creative public engagement campaigns;
- Holding community or regional-level public discussions and debates on local, national, or regional environmental issues;
- Training of local trainers (TOT), especially journalism representatives from indigenous and marginalized populations who are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and human rights abuses on in-depth reporting and further share the knowledge and experience with their networks of journalists and local community.
Eligibility Criteria
- DRL welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses. DRL’s preference is to work with non-profit entities; however, there may be some occasions when a for-profit entity is best suited.
For more information, visit DRL.