Grants to Prevent and Combat Racism, Xenophobia, Homophobia and other forms of Intolerance

Deadline: 15 April 2020

European Commission has announced a Call for Proposals to prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance and to monitor, prevent and counter hate speech online.

Priorities and Activities to be co-financed

To support a comprehensive approach to the prevention and the fight against racism and xenophobia and other forms of intolerance such as Antisemitism, anti-Muslim racism, homophobia, transphobia, antigypsism and Afrophobia, including online, and to support concrete actions addressing the racism and xenophobia faced by specific groups and communities, the following priorities shall be financed.

Whereas several measures and initiatives are listed, it is not requested to include all of them in a single proposal. Proposals with a strong focus are very much valued.

• To prevent and combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance
  • Actions to prevent and combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance and their manifestations on the ground, in particular, hate crime and hate speech;
  • Initiatives aimed at empowering, supporting and protecting groups, communities and individuals affected by manifestations of forms of intolerance, in particular hate crime and hate speech, with a particular focus on Afrophobia;
  • Measures to foster a better understanding and improved dialogue among different groups and communities, including by building on the role of community leaders, youth and multipliers, on how they can contribute to such dialogue;

Specific and targeted measures and initiatives aiming to step up (i) the prevention and the fight against Antisemitism and (ii) to tackle racism against Muslims or individuals perceived as such will be prioritised.

Proposals focusing on the prevention and the fight against Antisemitism may include:

• measures that prevent and combat all forms of antisemitic prejudices – online and offline – based on common standards and definitions; foster knowledge about contemporary manifestations of Antisemitism as well as its relation with other forms of hatred;
• measures that support the implementation of actions set out in the Council Declaration (15213/18) on the fight against antisemitism and the development of a common security approach to better protect Jewish communities and institutions in Europe
• measures that promote Jewish life and/or contribute to better understanding of Jewish traditions, the history and contribution of Jewish people in Europe before and after the Shoah, with a focus on local contexts and research.
• measures that foster knowledge and education about the Shoah for certain target groups, such as young people, develop new forms of remembrance in the light of dwindling knowledge about the Holocaust.
• measures that encourage communities to collaborate in the prevention of Antisemitism and empower Jewish communities;
• measures that develop and implement effective support for victims of antisemitic incidents and/or improve the collection and comparability of data on of antisemitic incidents based on common standards.

Proposals focusing on tackling racism against Muslims or individuals perceived as such may include:

• measures to raise awareness of public authorities on the phenomenon of anti-Muslim racism, including by fostering e.g. data recording of hate crimes and reporting by victims;
• measures to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations and practitioners to support victims of anti-Muslim racism and hate crimes;
• measures to address negative stereotypes, intolerance and hate speech (including online) against Muslim communities and people perceived as being Muslim. In particular, through education and awareness raising activities including community work that builds on the role of community leaders, youth and multipliers;
• initiatives to address the intersectional dimension of discrimination e.g. against Muslim women, in particular in access to education, services and the job market.
• To monitor, prevent and counter hate speech online
  • measures and initiatives resulting from the collaboration of key actors (e.g. public authorities, civil society and private companies) to report and counter hate speech online on social media platforms/internet companies;
  • cutting-edge research activities to increase knowledge and understanding of the ecosystems of hate speech and extremism online.
  • prevention, education and awareness raising initiatives, in particular for youth, concerning hate speech and the promotion of tolerance narratives online;
• Restricted to public authorities: to improve responses to racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance at national, regional and local level
  • The restricted call should focus on capacity building of public authorities, including:
    • improving the responses of national, regional and local authorities to apply hate crime and hate speech legislation on the ground, in particular, through training of law enforcement, building on the guidance produced in the context of the work of the High Level Group on Combating Racism and Xenophobia and other forms of intolerance (“Hate crime training for law enforcement and criminal justice authorities: 10 key guiding principles”, February 2017) and of activities in related projects;
    • establishing networks of public authorities, in particular at the regional or local level, to design and implement targeted national, regional or local action plans against racism, xenophobia or other forms of intolerance.
    • creating specific platforms for dialogue and exchange of good practices among relevant public authorities and civil society organizations and practitioners, including with a focus on specific grounds of hatred and intolerance (such as anti-Muslim hatred or Antisemitism)
    • improving hate crime recording and data collection practices in Member States, in particular building on the key guiding principles (“Improving the recording of hate crime by law enforcement authorities – Key guiding principles”, December 2017) developed by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights led-sub-group on improving the recording of hate crime by law enforcement;
    • improving support for victims of hate crime and hate speech at national, regional or local level, addressing underreporting, building trust between communities and public authorities, in particular, building on the guidance developed by the High Level Group on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and other forms of intolerance (“Ensuring justice, protection and support for victims of hate crime and hate speech: 10 key guiding principles”, December 2017);

Description of the Activities

Whereas numerous activities are listed below, it is not requested to include all of them in a single proposal. Proposals with a strong focus and implementing a limited type or number of activities are very much valued. Activities specifically targeting the objectives of preventing and fighting Antisemitism and of tackling racism and discrimination against Muslims are of particular interest.

To prevent and combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, activities shall consist of:

• mutual learning and exchanges of good practices;
• coalition building, capacity building and training;
• community and victims’ empowerment and support;
• dissemination and awareness raising initiatives;
• studies and analytical activities

In particular, in stepping up the prevention and the fight against Antisemitism, activities shall consist of:

• measures increasing the knowledge about Jewish life in the past and today;
• measures that support remembrance of the Shoah;
• data collection of antisemitic incidents;
• awareness raising of Antisemitism as a societal threat.

To prevent, report and counter hate speech online, activities shall consist of:

• awareness raising, multi-stakeholder actions and campaigns;
• promotion of digital skills and critical thinking, and education;
• advanced data gathering, analysis of trends, connections, and triggers of online hatred.

Restricted to public authorities: to improve public authorities’ responses to racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance at national, regional and local level, activities shall consist of:

• trainings addressed to law enforcement (police, prosecutors or judges) in order to enhance their capacity to implement the legal framework on hate speech and hate crime on the ground;
• designing and implementing strategies or plans of action;
• development of concrete tools, systems or practices in order to improve the systems of recording or data collection of instances of hate speech and hate crime at national, regional or local level.
• initiatives aimed to ensure the uptake, use and sustainability of tools and training material available in the area of hate crime and hate speech;
• mutual learning and exchange of good practices between national, regional or local authorities as well as with civil society organizations;

Grant Information

• The indicative maximum amount earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at EUR 7 930 000.
• The initial duration of the projects should not exceed 24 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• The project can be either national or transnational;
• The application must be submitted by a partnership, including at least two organizations (applicant and partner) actively involved in the implementation of the proposed action (unless specified otherwise);
• The EU grant requested cannot be lower than EUR 75 000. There is no maximum limit.
• The applicant and the partners must be public bodies or private organizations, duly established in one of the countries participating in the programme, or international organizations. Organizations that are profit-oriented may only submit applications in partnership with public bodies or private non-profit organizations.
• The applicant must be public authorities of one of the countries participating in the Programme; partners must be public bodies or private organizations, duly established in one of the countries participating in the Programme, or international organizations;
• Eligible countries are:
  • Member States of the European Union, including their overseas departments
  • Iceland and Liechtenstein
  • The Republic of Serbia

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