EC grants for not-for-profit media in Zimbabwe

Eligibility Criteria: Eligible lead applicants must be beneficiaries of a Financial Framework Partner Agreement under the specified EuropeAid call and must be established in an EU Member State, Zimbabwe, or another country eligible under the NDICI–Global Europe instrument. Applicants must also demonstrate direct responsibility for preparing and managing the proposed action.
Type of Funding: Grant
Target Region: Sub-saharan Africa
Application Language: English

The European Commission has launched a funding opportunity to strengthen civil society organisations and not-for-profit media in Zimbabwe in order to promote democracy, media pluralism, freedom of expression, and civic participation across the country.

This initiative falls under the Multiannual Plan for the Civil Society Organisations Thematic Programme 2025–2027 financed through the NDICI–Global Europe framework. Through this call for proposals, the European Union aims to partner with organisations that can implement a comprehensive programme of technical and financial support for Zimbabwean civil society organisations working in the media sector.

Thematics

Zimbabwe’s civil society and independent media landscape continues to face significant legal, political, and economic pressures despite constitutional guarantees for freedom of expression and access to information.The programme focuses on:

• Promoting democracy through informed and empowered citizens,
• Safeguarding civic space,
• Strengthening freedom of speech, ensuring access to public-interest information, combating misinformation and disinformation in the digital space, improving media and information literacy among young people,
• Enhancing digital resilience and safety for civil society organisations and independent media,
• Strengthening professionalism and sustainability of community radios and digital media actors, supporting investigative journalism,
• Protecting journalists and media practitioners from harassment and violence,
• Advocating for legal reforms that support media freedom,
• and enhancing collaboration between independent media and civil society organisations to address misinformation, hate speech, and freedom of expression challenges.

The total indicative budget available under this call for proposals is EUR 2 million. Grants requested must range between EUR 1.9 million and EUR 2 million.

To know more about the grant and to apply, please visit this page. The deadline for submissions is July 6, 2026.