Trainings and Grants for Civil Society Organizations and Media Organizations
Project description.
Training sessions and grants for 90 civil society organizations are being launched by the Freedom of Information Center in cooperation with the Maastricht-based European Journalism Centre, with the co- financing of the European Union.
Due to Yerevan and regional training, CSOs will be enriched with the necessary knowledge and skills to help citizens receive reliable information. The trainings will help CSOs to implement projects regarding the EU funding support to the programs implemented in various sectors of Armenia. These sectors include public health, transport, environment, energy efficiency, etc. During the training, CSOs will also be provided with the methodology for monitoring the state budget.
Upon the completion of the trainings, civil society representatives will be provided with 20 grants, of which 10 will target the cooperation of CSOs with state agencies and implement budget control projects in the respective sectors. The other 10 grants will support the CSOs who have participated in the trainings and who carry out their general mission more effectively.
Trainings and grants will be implemented by the Freedom of Information Center in cooperation with the Maastricht-based European Journalism Centre, with the co-financing of the the European Union within the framework of the project "Access to Information and Investigative Journalism for Better Informed Citizens." The goal of the project is to strengthen the civil society’s watchdog capacity, particularly regarding the state budget expenditures in the area of EU-Armenia relations, as well as to encourage investigative journalism among the youth.
More information about the project can be found at http://www.foi.am/en/current-projects/item/1662/ .
Training topics.
Freedom of Information Center organizes training sessions for about 90 Yerevan and regional CSOs, which will include the following topics:
- International documents and international best practice regarding the right to freedom of information/expression,
- EU-Armenia relations (international best practices in respect of policies and watchdog strategies for the promotion of EU integration),
- Public oversight of State budget,
- Fundraising strategies for CSOs,
- Freedom of information in Armenia,
- the link between freedom of expression and other human rights (defamation, right to privacy, journalism ethics, etc.).
Training participants.
Regional and Yerevan CSOs and media organizations are welcomed to apply for the training. Priority will be given to CSOs/media organizations which have the willingness to furtherly implement small grants projects in the sectors of public health, transport, environment, energy efficiency and other sectors areas of public administration.
The training is intended for 90 CSOs in Yerevan and provinces (NGOs, civic initiatives) and the media organizations. 7 or 8 applicant CSOs will be maintained from each region, and 15 CSOs- from Yerevan.
Each participating organization, civic group and/or initiative will be invited to present, in its sole discretion, maximum two representatives to participate in the trainings.
Training venue․
The training sessions will be conducted as follows:
- For the regional CSOs/media organizations, the regional trainings will be conducted in the centers of each region. Each training session will last 3 days.
- For the Yerevan-based CSOs/media organizations- in Yerevan, in 3 days։
Only the trainig session of the first topic (International documents and international best practice regarding the right to freedom of information/expression) will be held in Yerevan on September 26- 28, 2018 for all the participants. All expenses- travel, food and accommodation- will be covered by the organizers.
The training sessions will start on September 26, 2018 and will end on November 21, 2018. More detailed information on the exact days and hours of the trainings will be provided to the selected participants.
How to apply.
To participate in the training sessions (and to be eligible for further grants), please fill in the application form and send it to [email protected] by no later than September 14, 2018, indicating in the subject line of the email the phrase "Application for training sessions".