Deadline: 15 August 2017
East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI) has announced the USAID Justice for All Project in Albania (hereinafter referred to as “the Project”) to award grants to support investigative journalism in Albania in areas that include, but are not limited to:
- corruption and abuse of power in the public and private sectors;
- organized crime;
- economic crimes;
- handling of corruption, economic, and organized crimes cases by the justice system – police, prosecutors, judges;
- corruption related to political activity, including party financing.
These grants will be available to individual journalists or teams of journalists.
USAID Justice for All Project (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Project”) is a five-year (2016-2021) project designed to improve court performance through the implementation of comprehensive judicial performance standards in efficiency, transparency, accessibility and accountability. The Project also provides assistance to investigative journalism and media outlets, as well as to civil society organizations (CSOs) to strengthen their roles as important actors in the justice reform process and as watchdogs for implementation of reforms. The ultimate goal of the Project is to increase public confidence in Albania’s judicial system.
Objectives
The Project seeks creative, innovative applications in support of activities that will contribute to achieve the following objectives:
- Expose corruption and misconduct through thorough in-depth, fact-based, high quality reporting on corruption, particularly in the judiciary and regarding highly complex national and transnational crimes;
- Expose links between the judiciary and organized/economic crime;
- Expose organized and/or economic crimes including but not limited to drugs, human trafficking, money laundering that have the potential to lead to prosecutions and final convictions and assist in effectively dismantle criminal networks;
- Expose corruption in the political sphere, including in political party financing;
- Expose wrongdoing – corruption or misuse of power – in the public and private sectors.
Funding Information
The Project plans to award multiple grants for projects spanning 2 (two) to 12 (twelve) months. Grant funds may be used only for activities directly related to the implementation of the project. Awards will be made in the following categories:
- Small grants for investigations and story production pieces: Up to $2000.00
- Medium Grants for investigations and story production pieces of a complex nature: Up to $5000.00
Eligibility Criteria
The Project seeks applications from journalists or teams of journalists working in print, broadcast, online media, and freelance journalists in Albania. Applications may be submitted by individual journalists or a team of journalists. Teams shall name one of its members as the primary person responsible in relation to the Project.
The applications should also meet the following criteria:
- The investigation should uncover new and important information of obvious public interest;
- The journalist(s) already has key information (relevant sources, specific cases, documents and data) related to the proposed subject of investigation and access to additional information is realistic;
- The investigation must not present an unreasonable risk to the participating journalists;
- A realistic timeline for carrying out the proposed investigative reporting must be provided;
- The journalist(s) must attend the opening and closing seminars and training sessions that the Project will organize with the grantees under this RFA; they should also cooperate with the Project’s editors and trainers throughout the implementation of grant-supported activities;
- The journalist(s) must be responsive to requests by the Project’s staff during the investigative work;
- The journalist(s) are expected to meet professional journalistic and ethical standards the implementation of grant-supported activities;
- The journalist(s) must not be debtor, and must have cancelled any debt to the state or arranged for full debt payment prior to receiving the first disbursement of the Project’s grant funds (this excludes payments for private loans to commercial banks or other credit institutions);
- The journalist(s) must not be, suspended, excluded or otherwise ineligible to receive US Federal funding;
- Staff of public broadcasting companies cannot participate in a grant project, as a director, project manager or as grant-remunerated participant.
How to Apply
Applicants can download the application package via given website.
Eligible Country: Albania
For more information, please visit EWMI Request for Applications.