News

Open call for project applications

April 10, 2025

Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans along with the partners in Reporting Diversity Network  have opened the call for project proposals aiming to counter hate speech and improve representation of diversity.

The call was opened as part of the Reporting Diversity Network, which was established with the objective of effectively influencing media representation of ethnicity, religion, and gender in the Western Balkans. RDN aims to activate the role of civil society in countering the narratives of division and replacing them with much- needed positive discourse contributing to the value of good neighbouring relations and respect for social diversity.

The Call for Proposals will be publicised with the overall objective of increasing the influence of CSOs on media reporting shaping perceptions of ethnicity, religion and gender in the Western Balkans.

The specific objectives of the Call will be to:

  • strengthen the position of local CSOs in safeguarding their beneficiaries’ rights in media
  • provide opportunities for local CSOs to influence public perceptions and respond to hateful and harmful narratives contributing to polarisation.
  • increase the number and quality of messages conveyed to the audience to diminish the effect of polarising narratives
  • improve visibility and media representation of women and minority rights’ issues
  • contribute to positive perceptions of the others and tolerance and inclusion in the region

Types of actions that are eligible for funding (list is open and might include other project ativities as long as they contribute to the above-mentioned objectives):

  1. Advocacy and awareness-raising campaigns;
  2. Production of media content;
  3. Creation of campaigns countering hateful narratives in the public sphere;
  4. Consultations, roundtables and meetings with local stakeholders;
  5. Facilitating policy dialogue with stakeholders (e.g. political parties, local officials, expert community, media).

All activities must take place in the country where the organisation is registered. Project timeframe is maximum of nine month.

The overall budget for the programme is 30.000 EUR per country. Five projects per country will be supported, while the envisaged size of grants is minimum 5,000 EUR and maximum 7,000 EUR.

CSOs responding to this call must meet the following criteria:

  • that they are registered with the Business Registers Agency or respective authority in the country (please refer to the call relevant to your respective country) and that they have settled all legal obligations;
    • have experience in the field of representation of diversity and/or hate speech;
    • be directly responsible for project preparation and management;
    • that their bank account is not blocked;
    • that the organisations are not beneficiaries of the funds of the EU Civil Society Facility and Media Programme in favour of the Western Balkans and Turkey for 2021-2023 (IPA III), budget line: 15.020101.01
    • Organisations can submit only one project proposal under this Program as an applicant or as a partner

We welcome applications from diverse type of civil society organisations: grassroot organisations, memebrs of the larger-scale networks acting nationaly or regionaly, media established as CSOs.

Partnership with local media will be considered as an advantage and will ensure additional points.

A one-day training regarding the rules and procedures for the implementation of EU grants will be organised for selected grant recipients. The training will cover topics such as: project management, visibility rules, financial reporting, etc.

In addition, selected CSOs will be provided with mentoring support to assist them in conducting creative media campaigns to raise public awareness as well as in managing project activities.

We invite all interested organisations to fill in the application forms (attached).

The deadline to submit the application is May 31. The deadline to submit the questions is May 9.

The email for the submission of questions and proposals is published in each country call.

The evaluation criteria:

  1. Relevance of the proposal to the objectives of the Call for Proposals and relevance of the proposal to meet the needs of the target groups; (30 points)
  2. Effectiveness and feasibility of the action – clear links and consistency between objectives, estimated results, proposed activities and strategy; (20 points)
  3. Financial and operational capacity to autonomously undertake the proposed activities – an elementary level of organisational and managerial capacity will need to be demonstrated; (20 points)
  4. Impact and stakeholders’ involvement – proposals must be feasible and indicators objectively verifiable (number of citizens that will be involved in the action); (10 points)
  5. Involvement of vulnerable groups and gender-related issues – proposals need to take into consideration the needs of vulnerable groups; (5 points)
  6. Follow-up – proposals clearly stating how this project will align with their organisations’ plans and future activities. (5 points)
  7. Budget and cost effectiveness of the action – ratio between estimated cost and expected results must be satisfactory (10 points)

The Evaluation Committee will pay attention to geographic and thematic diversity of the grants, while respecting the principals of equal opportunities and inclusiveness.

Note: The Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans may request additional documentation.

Applications will be reviewed by an independent Evaluation Committee.

You can find the application form here, ad the budget form here.

The call in PDF format is available for download here.

We kindly advise you to check the calls in your respective countries:
Albania – Thirrje e hapur për aplikime për projekte – RDN
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Otvoreni poziv za projektne prijedloge
Montenegro – Otvoreni poziv za projektne prijedloge
North Macedonia –
Kosovo –
Serbia – Otvoren poziv za projektne predloge