Grants for Online Media Projects for Young People in the Arab World 2019

CFI is looking for online media project leaders for its EU funded support programme for young people in the Arab world. Be it a webtv, webradio, YouTube channel, or innovative online programme; if you have a project that aims at giving a voice to young people in the Arab world and would like to take it to the next level, this is your chance for a period of 2 years, D-Jil will support initiatives coming from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Supported Activities

The projects supported by D-Jil will be designed to allow the creation of innovative online media content that reflects the challenges of interest to young people. Projects will bring together the media and civil society, providing young people with enhanced access to information, a broader grounding in media topics, and increased political and citizen-led involvement in society.

Eligibility Criteria

D-Jil is designed for those developing digital news content of interest to young people (particularly, young women) and those wishing to enhance their skills by consolidating their working methods, enriching their content and providing new technical skills.

Eligible applicants must fall within one of the following categories:

• Applicants developing digital news content (bloggers' or citizen-journalist groups, online radio stations, online media, information platforms, etc.).
• Traditional private media making the transition to digital (radio and TV stations, printed media, press agencies, etc.).
• Associations and NGOs already active in the promotion of the media, cultural centres, or civil-society organisations keen to develop a higher online profile, all targeting young people.

They must:

• Be legally registered structure with legal standing (association, undertaking, NGO, etc.), or be in the course of obtaining legal registration, independent of any political or religious movement.
• Have the capability to receive funds from abroad.
• Have their head office in one of the following countries: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon or Syria. It is pointed out that in duly substantiated cases (impossibility of running a project from one’s country of origin), organisations headquartered in the European Union or in a third country may submit a project.
• Have a bank account held in the organisation’s name or be in the position to open one at short notice.

Benefits

When the present call for applications closes, 30 innovative projects will be short-listed and a hackathon will be organised to enable those involved to consolidate their projects during an interactive session. After the hackathon, the 8 best projects will receive funding and individual coaching.

D-Jil proposes the following to the hackathon winners:

• A grant of €60,000 to €65,000 for projects of 12 to 24 months.
• Individual coaching for selected project leaders for the production of media content and for administrative and financial management.
• Mentoring for selected project leaders relating to the content produced and also to administrative and financial management.
• Media studies and networking activities (participation in a conference dedicated to "media and young people").

Assessment Criteria

The assessment criteria to be taken into account for pre-selection are the following:

[1] Relevance (30/100):

• Quality of the analysis of the context and local needs.
• Relevance of the project to local needs.

[2] Strategy/Methodology (30/100):

• Strategy for reaching the target-public.
• Geographic coverage and specific focus.

[3] Feasibility/Management capability (20/100):

• The team’s experience and expertise in the particular field.
• Project management capability.

[4] Innovation (20/100):

• An added value of the project compared to existing ones.