Collaboration Lab for Bangladeshi Media and Civil Society

Description

1) Objective

The Free Press Unlimited, in collaboration with ARTICLE19 Bangladesh and South Asia, invites Bangladeshi civil society organisations (CSOs) and media to form alliances to apply together for the Collaboration Lab.

The Collaboration Lab is a small grants project for alliances of Bangladeshi media and CSOs and aims to promote collaboration on issues that are important and relevant to Bangladeshi citizens, stimulate the development of innovative solutions and facilitate knowledge exchange and (mutual) learning. The Collaboration Lab is part of the programme “Joining Forces: CSOs and Media for Accountability in Bangladesh”, implemented by Free Press Unlimited and ARTICLE19 Bangladesh and South Asia, and funded by the European Union.

In line with Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), the proposed initiative should address at least one of the following five thematic areas:

• Accountability: covering transparency, corruption, and illicit finance.
• Information: covering access to information, freedom of expression, right to information.
• Inclusion: covering inclusive participation of women and girls, youth, LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority groups.
• Digital: covering defending digital and civic spaces, combating disinformation.
• Safety: covering the safety of journalists, violence against women and children, human trafficking, and extrajudicial killings.

2) Eligibility

Alliances must consist of one media organisation and one CSO. One organisation will apply as the ‘lead’ organisation, responsible for signing the sub grant with Free Press Unlimited and ARTICLE19 and the overall coordination and management of the sub-grant. The other organisation will act as the co-applicant. Applicants eligible for financial support must be nonprofit or profit-making entities that can include media outlets, NGOs, CSOs, media development organisations or social enterprises, and must be established and registered in Bangladesh.

3) Location

Actions must take place in Bangladesh.

4) Budget

In the Collaboration Lab, media and CSOs are invited to form alliances and jointly apply for a one-year subgrant. In the 2023 round, they ask alliances to submit a proposal to set up an initiative focused on mutual learning. A panel of judges will then assess the proposals and select 5 alliances to receive a grant of a maximum of 60,000 EUR.

5) Application

The application deadline is 19 October 2023. Send your completed application (please include ALL requested documents) to asia@freepressunlimited.org.