Theme: Freedom of expression

The European Commission (EC) has announced the call for proposals to Support existing and newly established Civil Society Organizations’ (CSOs) networks.

This call aims to strengthen participatory democracies and the EU approximation and integration process in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through an enhanced contribution by civil society and media.

The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) III Programming framework considers the support to civil society and media as one of the priorities to improve democracy and rule of law. It calls, inter alia for “particular focus (…) to safeguard the freedom of expression and independence of media as pillars of democracy.”

The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals:

• The 2021-2023 main priorities of the Civil Society Facility and Media Programme, identified by stakeholders for support through consultation during the programming exercise, are as follows:
  • Institutionalisation of civil society participation in policy and decision-making process.
  • Further capacity building of CSO in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly of grassroots CSOs.
  • Continuation of support to issue-based networks in the area of rule of law, anti-corruption, education, health, electoral processes, social inclusion, environment and climate change, youth, culture, local economy and entrepreneurship, women’s rights, freedom of expression, and media.

The actions must relate to the support of CSOs to engage in sector networking across a range of themes. The assistance will enable CSOs to advocate for positive societal changes, including towards public institutions. Particular attention will be paid to gender aspects and the inclusion of minorities as cross-cutting issues.