Deadline: 7-Dec-20
Under the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, the action “Freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro (JUFREX)” is launching a call for proposals looking to fund projects of independent local media aiming to promote freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro in line with European standards and create a safer and more pluralistic media environment.
The call aims to fund projects of independent local media aiming to promote Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Media. Project proposals shall aim to produce an added value to the Council of Europe efforts in this domain.
The purpose of the Action is to promote freedom of expression and freedom of the media in Montenegro in line with European standards and create a safer and more pluralistic media environment. In more concrete terms, the Action has three aims:
- To enhance the acting capacities of members of the judiciary, law enforcement officials and legal professionals (i.e. judges, prosecutors, police officers and lawyers) in accordance with Council of Europe standards in the areas of Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Media, particularly the relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR);
- To work with Montenegro’s media regulatory authorities and governmental bodies to align the media legislative framework with the European standards;
- To support the media associations and universities to apply best practices in teaching and promoting Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Media.
Funding Information
- The indicative available budget under this call for proposals is €80 000 (eighty thousand Euros). The Council of Europe intends to award five grants of a maximum amount of €16 000 (sixteen thousand Euros) each.
What issues Projects will address?
It is expected that the projects will address one or more of the following issues:
- European standards on freedom of expression and freedom of media and their observance during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Measures intended to limit disinformation, online harassment or hate speech in view of the European standards on the freedom of expression and freedom of the media;
- Media literacy, as one of the core response mechanisms to the increase of disinformation;
- The growing importance of social media, as new channel to create and disseminate(dis)information, hate speech, stereotypes and discriminatory practices.
Projects to be given preference
Further to the general objective, preference will be given to:
- Projects/actions emphasising the correlation between freedom of expression/freedom of media and other human rights;
- Projects/actions exploring the work of public and judicial bodies during the pandemics;
- Projects/actions underlining the importance of media literacy as the effective instrument to combat disinformation and contribute to the healthy media environment;
- Projects/actions with ability engage with online audiences via social media networks.
Target stakeholders
Projects should target in particular the following key stakeholders:
- General population, with specific focus on youth and online community;
- Journalists and editors;
- The Agency for Electronic Media and other relevant public bodies at state and municipal level responsible for media policies and the work of public media.
Award Criteria
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- The relevance and added value of the project with regards to the objective of the call (20%);
- The extent to which the action meets the requirements of the call (20%);
- The quality, accuracy, clarity and cost-effectiveness of the application and the estimated budget (20%);
- The relevance of the experience of the applying organization and staff (40%).
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible for a grant, an applicant must:
- Be legally registered as a media outlet in Montenegro;
- Be entitled to carry out the activities described in its project proposal;
- Have been active for at least 3 years in the field of promoting freedom of expression and freedom of media principles;
- Have sufficient financial capacity (stable and sufficient sources of funding) to maintain its activity throughout the period for which the grant is awarded and to participate by way of its own resources (including human resources or in-kind contributions);
- Have sufficient operational and professional capacity, including staff, to carry out activities described in its project proposal;
- Have a bank account.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2HuKrQF