NOFO: Women’s Empowerment in Journalism (Pakistan)

The second part will take place following the study tour as a follow-on program to share knowledge, build capacity, and grow a more engaged community of women journalists. The study tour participants will help to develop and implement a series of multi-day workshops over a period of 12 months for women journalists in Punjab. The workshops will focus on capacity building (particularly on field reporting), networking, and advocating for gender equality. Through this program the U.S. Mission aims to enhance the voice of women in the media. The project will be in-person.

The study tour participants will help to develop and implement a series of multi-day workshops over a period of 12 months for women journalists in Punjab. The workshops will focus on capacity building (particularly on field reporting), networking, and advocating for gender equality. Through this program the U.S. Mission aims to enhance the voice of women in the media. The project will be in-person.

In Pakistan, women journalists often face systemic challenges, including inequality and harassment. Despite progress in recent years, a significant gender gap persists in the industry. According to a report published by the International Federation of Journalists of the estimated 20,000 professional journalists in Pakistan, less than 1,000 are women.

Women journalists often lack opportunities for career advancement into leadership roles, face significant pay-gaps, lack of facilities and support, and other forms of discrimination.Given these challenge, women journalists could benefit from a network and leadership that can more effectively advocate for positive change.

Objectives

• To build a community of more than 25 women representatives from Pakistani media and provide an opportunity for leaders of the community to learn best practices and build connections with U.S. counterparts and gender equality advocates.
• For project participants to work on developing a core group which can advocate for improvements in gender equality in journalism, overcoming challenges like workplace harassment, and create opportunities for career advancement.
• For the grantee, in collaboration with project participants, to produce a regular series of social media posts to highlight the issues faced women in the media industry and measures to mitigate them for better representation of women in journalism.

Funding Information

• Total available funding: $125,000
• Length of performance period: 12 to 16 months
• Award amounts: Awards may range from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $125,000
• Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 16 months or less.

Target Audience

• The primary audience of the program will be three-five mid-to-senior level women journalists from Punjab working in print, television, and digital media.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants
  • The following organizations are eligible to apply:
    • Not-for-profit organizations.
    • Civil society/non-governmental organizations.
    • Think tanks.
    • Public and private educational institutions.
    • For-profit entities, even those that may fall into the categories listed above, are not eligible to apply for this NOFO. Organizations may sub-contract with other entities, but only one, non-profit, non-governmental entity can be the prime recipient of the award. When sub-contracting with other entities, the responsibilities of each entity must be clearly defined in the proposal.
• Cost Sharing or Matching
  • Cost sharing or matching is not required for this funding opportunity.
• This opportunity will not support:
  • Projects relating to partisan political activity;
  • Charitable or development activities;
  • Construction projects;
  • Projects that support specific religious activities;
  • Fund-raising campaigns;
  • Lobbying for specific legislation or programs
  • Scientific research or surveys;
  • Commercial projects;
  • Projects intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization;
  • Projects that duplicate existing projects; or
  • Illegal activities.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.