UNESCO “Promoting Excellence in Journalism Education in Africa” Initiative

Deadline: 10-Jul-23

The “Promoting Excellence in Journalism Education in Africa” initiative invites 30+ universities and training centres across the continent to help develop criteria for excellence in journalism education.

The initiative is supported by Google News Initiative and coordinated by the Wits Centre for Journalism and the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University (South Africa).

Throughout the current project, 100+ schools in the region will be exposed to the process of developing new criteria that address the latest developments in the media sector and challenges relevant to the African context. Ultimately, the project aims to strengthen the African media landscape by helping to better address the training needs of the next generation of media workers.

The proposals might involve integrating new UNESCO curriculum resources on fake news and disinformation, migration, terrorism and climate change, into their programmes, or deepening links between universities and the media industry. Institutions can also propose activities for using key international days like World Press Freedom Day to mobilize partnership, devise innovative teaching methodologies adapted to challenges identified in Africa, or take steps towards building a community of practice in African Journalism Education.

Funding Information

• Up to USD 16,000 will be allocated to each successful application, and a total of 10 grants will be awarded.
• Duration: Activities for the proposals should run from August 1, 2023 until March 15, 2024.

Eligibility Criteria

• This grants funding opportunity is available to journalism schools, colleges and universities in Africa.
• Only one proposal per institution will be considered. Please confer with your colleagues to ensure that no duplicate proposals are received from your institution.
• Institutions that participated in the series of regional online consultations will be prioritized in the selection process.

Criteria

• Key criteria for selecting proposals
  • Criteria 1: Geography and language
    • In selecting the proposals, they would like to ensure both a geographic and linguistic reach. Ideally, this would mean selecting at least one proposal from each of the five regions in Africa, and one each in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic.
  • Criteria 2: Diversity of topics
    • They would like to fund proposals that focus on different topics or issues.
  • Criteria 3: How practical the project is within the timeframe proposed?
    • The projects selected need to be reasonably achievable within the proposed timeline. Indicators of successful achievement of the outputs speak to the reasonableness of what can be achieved.
  • Criteria 4: Capacity of institution to deliver on their proposed project
    • Applicants need to be clear about who will be in charge of the project and who else will be involved in its implementation.
  • Criteria 5: Diversity and inclusion
    • There are two areas here where proposals will be scored higher:
      • Proposals that is likely to offer a benefit to female students and/or practicing journalists. They would like to award small grants to at least three proposals that specifically benefit female students or have an identifiable likely impact on the representation and participation of women in the news media.
      • They would like to encourage interventions that combat xenophobia or other prejudices against ethnic and cultural groups in the classroom, newsroom and in the news, or that promote cultural/linguistic diversity.

For more information, visit UNESCO.