SAFE Media capacity support fund opens for applications

• Eligibility: independent media from the Eastern Partnership region (EaP), looking to provide training
• Target region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
• Language: English

The Support and Assistance for Free Expression (SAFE) project offers training grants to independent media from the Eastern Partnership region (EaP). These grants fund training programmes that enhance journalistic reporting and resilience, helping independent media outlets continue their work safely and sustainably under high-risk conditions.

Requirements

• The training programmes must take place before 30 December 2026.
• The training programmes must target primarily media workers affiliated with the applying media outlet.
• Eligible topics include, but are not limited to: Mental health, Physical safety, Digital security, Journalistic and editorial skills enhancement, Capacity building aimed at improving the outlet’s operational capacity
• A report detailing the training outcomes, financial expenditure, and impact must be submitted to ECPMF by 15 January 2027.
• Applicants must submit a proposal form outlining: Basic information about the applying outlet
  The purpose of the grant, including the training’s objectives and expected impact, The relevance of the proposed training. A budget, including a breakdown of costs for the proposed training.

Eligibility

• This call is open to journalists and media workers at independent outlets, whose editorial teams pursue a clear public interest mission and who have limited access to other sources of support.
• Priority is given to media operating in hostile or restrictive environments: Outlets across the Eastern Partnership region facing significant financial, logistical, legal or security challenges.
• Priority is given to frontline and high-risk zones (relevant only for Ukraine): Regional, local, hyperlocal media, small and medium-sized national media outlets operating in frontline areas or relocated from temporarily occupied territories, as well as journalists and fixers regularly working in high-risk zones.
• Grants can also be used to fund training for individual members of the editorial team.

How to apply

To be considered for the grant, you would also need to download this template, fill it in, and attach it to your application form. Apply here.

For more information, please visit this page.