U.S. Mission to Kyrgyzstan announces Media Small Grants Program

The U.S. Embassy Bishkek Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce funding is available through the Embassy’s Media Small Grants Program.

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This program supports the development of the Kyrgyz Republic’s media by competitively awarding small grants to Kyrgyz nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and associations working in the media sector and to independent media organizations. Awards will be made pending the availability of funds.

The Embassy’s Media Small Grants Program serves to support local civil innovative strategies that contribute to the following goals:

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Strengthen regional security and stability and transnational threats;
Strengthen entrepreneurship and small business development initiatives;
Support a more inclusive and accountable democracy.
Problem Statement: The rapid expansion of online information resources radically increased the reach of new media over the last decade. There is a critical need to promote strong norms of professional journalism, support investigative journalism and fact-checking, and improve digital literacy among the general public.

Goal of this solicitation is to promote free flow of information and freedom of expression through support for independent and responsible journalism. Programs should aim at strengthening capacity and sustainability of media organizations to report with transparency and objectivity, maintain independence, build sustainability; and reduce self-censorship, particularly on sensitive topics such as religious tolerance, minorities, conflict, and governance.

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Targeted independent media entities must be those that promote human rights, gender equality, rule of law, democratic processes, and government accountability, and that empower women, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups. Proposed programs should be innovative and clearly demonstrate how they will complement ongoing programs and avoid duplicating past efforts. They may include activities that improve upon or expand existing successful projects.

Examples of project activities include but are not limited to:

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Programs that encourage creation of original high-quality and locally relevant content through educating journalists on storytelling, new skills, new technologies, digital tools and digital security, and trends in reporting;
Training programs to develop skills of regional language journalists in critical analysis, investigative journalism and fact-checking and research in order to mitigate the spread of disinformation and misinformation;
Projects to develop skills of journalists and media influencers in reporting on specialized themes and developing positive messaging to address sensitive issues such as violent extremism, conflicts, minorities, government oversight;
Educational projects that would increase capacity of government press services, media organizations, journalists, and media influencers on crisis communication and reporting in crisis situations;
Projects on building partnership with civil society, business community, and governmental agencies and increasing capacity of stakeholders to develop common and coordinated strategies to effectively address burning issues;
Programs to develop and maintain online open-source platforms and applications to increase public awareness, effectiveness of citizen oversight of government, regulations, budget processes, and activities, and/or expand such programs to rural and remote areas;
Programs providing security/safety training for reporters on working in a difficult environment – particularly best practices adapted from lessons learned;
Educational programs to increase critical thinking and to improve digital and media literacy among general public ensuring access to credible information to help especially vulnerable groups make informed decisions.
Activities that are NOT typically funded include, but are not limited to:

Profit-generating projects;
Scholarships to support educational opportunities or study for individuals;
Projects that duplicate existing projects or paying to complete activities begun with other funds;
Financial support for fundraising or fund development projects;
Projects that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship/support to an individual or single party in electoral campaigns;
Political party and lobbying activities;
Projects that support specific religious activities;
Construction projects or infrastructure projects;
Medical or scientific research;
Charitable activity or humanitarian aid, and;
Microloans/microfinance projects, distribution of seed money for enterprises, and legal/land rights-focused programs.
Funding Information

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Anticipated period of performance: up to 12 months
Floor of Award Amounts: $15,000
Ceiling of Award Amounts: $50,000
Number of Anticipated Awards: 2 – 6
The maximum grant award is $50,000, an average award would be around $30,000.
Priority Target audiences: Media entities, media managers and professionals, social media influencers.

Eligibility Criteria

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The Public Affairs Section administers the Media Small Grants Program. This program supports the development of Country’s media institutions by competitively awarding small grants to:
Kyrgyz Republic-registered non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and associations working in media-related area;
Kyrgyz Republic-registered independent media organizations.
State bodies are encouraged to work with eligible NGOs and independent media organizations to submit applications. American or other donor country organizations or individuals are not eligible for grants under this program.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326461