EU Civil Society Facility and Media Programme for Kosovo

Objectives

• The global objective of this call for proposals is to strengthen the resilience, role and capacities of civil society and media in advancing participatory democracy and social progress along with the EU integration and approximation agenda in Kosovo.
• The specific objectives of the call are:
  • Support civil society participation, activism and influence in key sectors / cross-sectoral reforms, local development and social inclusion processes.
  • Support media resilience, pluralism, media literacy and improved access to information particularly for vulnerable groups.

Priorities

The priorities of this call for proposals are as follows:

• Lot 1: Civil society resilience and sustainability
  • This Lot aims to strengthen the resilience, capacities and professional standards of civil society actors in sectors
    • where Kosovo needs to progress in view of its candidacy for the European Union, and
    • which are not adequately supported by public institutions or donors. The assistance will contribute to sustain the CSOs’ work in those sectors where they have a clear added value and play an important advocacy, oversight, monitoring, law/policy implementation, innovation or service provision role.
  • Creative ideas that go beyond the standard capacity-building methods will be valued positively (under the added-value question of the evaluation grid).
• Lot 2: Local governance, development and activism
  • This Lot aims to support local development processes through
    • strengthening the role of community-based  and grass-root organisations,
    • increasing civic engagement, youth and vulnerable groups’ activism, advocacy for citizens’ rights and for needs-based policies,
    • greater (inter)-community cohesion and inclusion and
    • enhancing local governance and participation of civil society in local policy making.
  • Based on past consultations and previous calls, they consider that the below areas can be potential drivers for local development where CSOs can be real change-makers:
    • Culture, cultural heritage, art and creative industries
    • Sports
    • Circular economy and green transition
    • Tourism
• Lot 3: Kosovo national Resource Centre
  • Under this Lot, civil society organisations are invited to submit proposals that build on and continue the work of the first and second Resource Centre in supporting the development of the sector in Kosovo, enhancing cooperation between civil society organisations, state institutions, the donor community and other relevant stakeholders.
  • The proposals shall:
    • identify gaps, needs as well as priorities for capacity building and mentoring to be addressed in the coming years, tailored to the different categories of CSOs and target audiences, and focusing on the latest developments (for instance Artificial Intelligence penetration).
    • envisage activities to enhance cooperation and partnerships between civil society organisations, central and local institutions, as well as other non-traditional stakeholders including businesses, academia and trade unions.
    • provide sub-grants to promote volunteering or other relevant support based on needs-assessments (for instance social entrepreneurship).
    • focus on enhancing regulatory (self)standards for gender-sensitive internal procedures, transparency and accountability of organisations, including through effective feedback mechanisms for constituency/members.
• Lot 4: Thematic coalitions and networks
  • This Lot will support and strengthen coalitions and networks of civil society and media organisations operating in Kosovo in the following thematic sectors, which are underpinning the priorities of the SAA and European Reform Agenda:
    • Rule of Law and fight against organised crime and corruption.
    • Socio-economic inclusion and the promotion, defence and enforcement of women and vulnerable groups rights (children and adults with disabilities, from non-majority groups, long-standing unemployed people, etc.)
    • Labour law (equality, anti-discrimination, health and safety), workers’ protection and dignified employment.
    • Quality, accountability and efficiency standards in Education.
    • Environment protection, waste management, energy efficiency, green economy – Public health, consumer and health protection (food safety, quality and accountability of  inspections).
    • Economic governance and public administration reforms.
    • Democratisation, reconciliation, culture and youth.
• Lot 5: Media resilience and pluralism, media literacy, and improved access to information
  • This lot will support media resilience, media pluralism, media literacy and improved access to information.
  • Each proposal shall support media entities in their research, analysis, quality reporting, and broadcast on Kosovo’s progress on EU integration sectors at national and/or local levels and strengthen its efforts to inform and increase the awareness of citizens and relevant stakeholders on this process.
  • The call encourages strengthening creative synergies and cooperation between media and civil society organisations. In addition, each proposal shall focus on minimum one of the below areas:
    • Strengthen the resilience and sustainability of independent media actors, in particular non-mainstream media representing non-majority and/or vulnerable groups (sub-granting to local and/or non-majority media should be foreseen for this area).
    • Work on the promotion of professional and ethical standards (including through self-regulatory codes), better labour standards and working conditions of journalists and media professionals.
    • Improve the protection and security of journalists, other media staff and citizen journalists.
    • Use Artificial Intelligence to the benefit of media entities and to tackle the issue of media literacy education (for instance in youth clubs and in formal and/or non-formal education institutions).

Funding Information

• Lot 1
  • minimum amount: 250,000 EUR
  • maximum amount: 350,000 EUR
• Lot 2
  • minimum amount: 250,000 EUR
  • maximum amount: 500,000 EUR
• Lot 3
  • minimum amount: 400,000 EUR
  • maximum amount: 500,000 EUR
• Lot 4
  • minimum amount: 400,000 EUR
  • maximum amount: 500,000 EUR
• Lot 5
  • minimum amount: 250,000 EUR
  • maximum amount: 500,000 EUR

Duration

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 months nor exceed 36 months.

Eligible Activities

• Lot 1 and Lot 2:
  • Capacity building activities to develop soft skills for employability, democratic participation and civic engagement of women and men with fewer opportunities and with different abilities, including through financial support to third parties (such as support for establishing social enterprises).
  • Programmes to engage (young) women and men with fewer opportunities through social, cultural or other volunteering initiatives aiming to enhance social cohesion and awareness on EU priority sectors notably in rural areas and smaller towns.
  • Initiatives to engage disadvantaged citizens of all age into inter-cultural dialogue, to combat disinformation, gender and/or ethnic based stereotypes particularly in the rural communities;
  • Volunteering programmes fostering education, civic engagement and public awareness of the circular economy, preservation of biodiversity, natural resources, inclusion of vulnerable groups, the value of sports and cultural activities for social cohesion, digitalisation, etc.
  • Activities to expand the virtual civic space with the aim to facilitate the oversight of and contribution to policy making for inclusive growth and sustainable development.
  • Activities to strengthen the participation of civil society in dialogue and governance structures related to environment, energy, transport, social protection, or other policies having an impact on citizens’ right to a healthy and clean environment.
• Lot 3: Kosovo national resource centre, phase III
  • Organizational capacity building programmes with particular attention to a wider outreach of CSOs and for smaller and rural CSOs as well as non-for-profit media;
  • Provision of working space for CSOs, for events and meetings;
  • Provision of help-desk services to guide and inform on CS related legislation, taxation, policies and funding opportunities;
  • Outreaching actions such as a mobile resource centre to boost outreach and service delivery of CSOs outside Prishtina;
  • Preparation of CSOs to contribute to EC progress Reports and other assessments needed by the EU Office;
  • Provision of training in monitoring sectorial policies, constituency building, evidence-based advocacy, volunteering, or other topics depending on the particular needs of target CSOs.
• Lot 4: Thematic Coalitions and networks
  • Actions to build long-term structured cooperation among CSOs to support each other and exchange good practices in a given sector;
  • Actions advancing the scope and capacities of already established CSOs and informal groups of citizens to support active citizenship, participation and volunteering.
  • Public awareness raising campaigns (in cooperation with media sector whenever possible) to promote civic engagement, public unbiased information and activate demand for reforms on key policy areas;
  • Actions to increase visibility, transparency and outreach of citizens/CSOs’ involvement in and contribution to decision-making and monitoring processes linked to reforms for the EU integration perspective;
  • Actions to set up formal and/or informal structures and/or mechanisms to include citizens and CSOs in public decision-making processes and overcome procedural obstacles for dialogue between CSOs and public sector.
• Lot 5: Media resilience and pluralism, media literacy, and improved access to information
  • Workshops focused on building resilience among media professionals, addressing challenges such as financial sustainability, legal issues, and external pressures; encourage collaborative investigative journalism projects among media entities and CSOs to address complex issues and ensure diverse perspectives.
  • Actions to improve social dialogue to advance the working conditions of journalists and other media professionals.
  • Grants scheme support specifically for investigative journalism projects, encouraging in-depth and innovative reporting on EU integration and other issues.
  • Capacity-building workshops for non-mainstream media, providing training on financial management, audience engagement, and digital transformation.
  • Networking events and collaboration opportunities between non-majority and/or local media outlets to share best practices and resources; develop mentorship programs pairing experienced journalists with those from vulnerable groups to support skills development and knowledge transfer.
  • Multimedia campaigns (videos, infographics, social media content) that highlight the differentiated impact of EU priorities on citizens based on vulnerability levels. Implement storytelling initiatives that share personal narratives related to the specified topics, emphasising diverse perspectives and experiences; implement communication strategies that address language diversity within Kosovo, ensuring information reaches citizens in various linguistic communities.
  • Multimedia, print, radio, TV and online productions that include series of investigative articles and features.

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead applicant
  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
    • be a legal person and
    • be non-profit-making and
    • be a civil society organisation and
    • be established in a Member State of the European Union or in an IPA III beneficiary country and
    • be registered in Kosovo and
    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary and
    • For Lot 1, 2, 4 and 5: have a proven experience and worked for minimum three years over the last six years in Kosovo in the area of the Lot it is applying to
    • For Lot 3: have a proven experience and worked for minimum three years over the last six years on developing the capacities of Kosovo’s civil society sector.

• Co-applicants
  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
  • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria applicable to the lead applicant himself, with the exception of the eligibility criterion referring to the years of experience.

For more information, visit EC.