Grants / Department of State / U.S. Mission to Serbia

SRB10021FO003: PAS Belgrade_Program Support for Media Small Grants Competition (FY2021)

Closed Closed April 20, 2021 Opportunity SRB10021FO003 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is forecast: Democracy Commission Program R2 FY2022 (TIRDEMCOMMR2FY22). Status: Forecast, no dates yet. It is in our archive of U.S. Mission to Serbia notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$145,000
• Award floor$145,000
• Total funding$145,000
• Expected awards1
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

The following not-for-profit entities, from Serbia or the U.S., are eligible to apply:• Journalist or media unions or associations, civil society organizations/non-governmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks. To be eligible for consideration, every Serbia-based applicant organization must be registered in the territory of the Republic of Serbia with the Agencija za privredne registre (APR).

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past AEECA/ESF PD Programs awards averaged $83,527; this notice allows up to $145,000 per award.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Program Objectives: Just as in the U.S., people in Serbia confront disinformation, misinformation, and inaccurate news stories on a daily basis, making it difficult to understand and make sense of the world. On top of that, news stories of the greatest importance to communities, or ones about disadvantaged groups, sometimes do not make their way into the media. In addition, in order for Serbia to join the European Union, which is a stated goal of the Government of Serbia, changes and reforms must take place to secure and guarantee freedom of the press in Serbia. The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to provide program support for Media Small Grants Program as described under “Program Objectives” below. The grantee would receive the full amount of the award (through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Embassy) and would issue sub-grants in line with this year’s Program Themes (still to be determined by PAS). The grantee will work closely with PAS through all stage of implementation of the program: publicizing the sub-grant competition, collecting submissions, conducting technical reviews, preparing materials for the Embassy’s sub-grant review panel, issuing sub-grants for approved projects, monitoring the progress of sub-grantee activities, and evaluating the impact of their projects. The purpose of the Media Small Grants Program is to fund individual projects that: strengthen the media literacy and critical thinking skills of students, news consumers, and other citizens of Serbia; ensure the free flow of accurate information; support people’s efforts to tell stories of greatest interest to them; support the strengthening of the Serbian press; and educate community members about the importance of a free press in a democratic society like Serbia’s. At the same time, we are also trying to strengthen the institutional capacity of the sub-grantee to manage and implement projects. Sub-grantee activities may take any number of forms, including: media workshops, courses, public debates, conferences, role-playing sessions/simulations, TED Talks, hackathons, online projects, public campaigns, podcasts, summer camps, cross-border exchanges, curriculum development, exhibits, or other activities.

Category: Other.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, TIRDEMCOMMR2FY22, which is forecast.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.