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UNESCO announces 2022 Call for Partnerships of the Global Media Defence Fund
The 2022 Call for Partnerships of the Global Media Defence Fund will make nearly USD $1.4 million available in financial grants to support the implementation or upscaling of local, regional and international projects that, in line with international human rights standards, will contribute to enhancing media freedom and bolstering journalists’ legal protection by advancing at least one of the following GMDF Outputs:
- Output 2: Reinforcing the operationalization of national protection mechanisms and peer support networks to ensure journalists’ rapid access to legal assistance, bolster their defense and enhance their safety, taking into account the gendered nature of the threats against them;
- Output 3: Supporting investigative journalism that contributes to reduced impunity for crimes against journalists by holding the justice system accountable and by pursuing investigative work that risks being censored when journalists are attacked; imprisoned, or murdered; and to enhancing the safety of those conducting this line of work;
- Output 4: Enhancing structures for fostering strategic litigation in order to protect environments where the legal frameworks are conducive to an independent, free, and pluralistic media ecosystem.
This Call for Partnerships is open to specialized not-for-profit entities (including, but not limited to, NGOs, media associations, journalists’ unions, human right defenders, lawyers’ associations and pro bono legal aid organizations, lawyers’ and investigative journalism networks, foundations, and academic institutions, among many others) who have been active and registered as such for at least two years and who meet the criteria established in the Terms of Reference of the Call.
The size of the financial grants distributed under this Call will range from a minimum USD $15,000 to a maximum $35,000.
How can my organization submit a proposal to the Global Media Defence Fund?
All information you require on how to submit a partnership proposal under the 2022 Call can be found here, and is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Partnership proposals (including mandatory forms and supporting documents) must be submitted via email only to gmdf@unesco.org.
The Global Media Defence Fund is a UNESCO Multi-Partner Trust Fund developed within the framework of the Global Campaign for Media Freedom and under the overall umbrella of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
Administered by UNESCO, the Global Media Defence Fund is supporting the implementation of nearly 80 projects around the globe, for a total of USD $2.7 million in financial grants. The initiatives implemented under the 2020 Call have supported over 850 cases of legal assistance, 70 strategic litigation cases, and 120 journalistic investigations on crimes against journalists –among many other key deliverables–, while the projects supported under the 2021 Call are directly benefiting a myriad of beneficiaries, including 1700 journalists, 300 lawyers, and 60 NGOs through a diverse array of innovative activities, going from strategic litigation cases to challenge legal provisions preventing journalists from doing their job, to the establishment of a mobile legal assistance channel for journalists seeking legal protection and the creation of specialized protection teams for the legal defense of women journalists.
The 2022 Call for Partnerships of the Global Media Defence Fund is possible thanks to the generous contributions of Canada, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, France, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.