Funding for Media Defence Centres in Sub-Saharan Africa

• Eligibility Criteria:
  – The grant is open to NGOs and law centres registered in Sub-Saharan Africa;
  – The organisation must have a background or demonstrable interest in litigation and/or provision of legal support;
  – The organisation should have previous experience in the advancement and protection of freedom of expression in the country or region where it operates; and
  – The organisation must have sufficient administrative and financial capacity to comply with Media Defence’s reporting requirements.
• Type of Funding: Programmatic
• Target Countries: Sub-Saharan Africa
• Application Language: English

Media Defence is accepting applications for its Grant Program to support the delivery of media defense centers in sub-Saharan Africa. They are looking to partner with four NGOs or law centres. The partnership would be for the provision of quality legal support for media outlets, journalists and bloggers facing legal threats because of their reporting in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Organisations interested in applying must either have, or wish to establish, a media defence centre to provide free, high quality legal support in that field.

The aim is to expand this network and achieve better local-level access to legal assistance for independent media outlets, journalists and bloggers who lack the financial means to access legal support at commercial rates. Given its conditions for media freedom, the organisation is prioritising funding media defence centres in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Media Defence is a charity, based in London, which provides legal help to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media across the world. Their vision is a world where journalists no longer face legal challenges that threaten their ability to report freely and independently on issues of public interest, allowing citizens to be better informed, able to hold those in power to account. Their mission is to ensure legal protection of journalists and media workers under threat for reporting on issues of public interest, in the belief that freedom of expression is essential.

Objectives

• Media Defence is offering four grants to organisations with backgrounds in defending and supporting the right to freedom of expression. The grants can be used to set up a media legal defence centre to provide pro bono legal support to (citizen) journalists and independent media. Equally, they can be used to coordinate networks of lawyers to do the same. The grant funds cannot be applied for strategic litigation.
• Media Defence is available to provide legal mentoring, capacity building, and other forms of non-financial organisational support.

For more information, visit Media Defence.