Open Society Institute Budapest
Network Women’s Program and Network Media Program

GRANT PROGRAM FOR 16 DAYS MEDIA CAMPAIGNS TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Introduction
The right to be free from violence is a fundamental human right. Violence against women is gender-based violence that results in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women. Gender-motivated violence is an abuse of women's human rights and is a primary cause and symptom of women's unequal status in society.

While violence against women was prevalent in former communist states, it has risen during the ongoing period of transition in many of these countries. In the post-communist era, women's participation in the public sphere has deteriorated as evidenced by rising unemployment, decreased participation in politics and increased poverty. This decrease in women's status has also led to an increase in violence against women. The hidden nature of the problem makes the exact incidents of violence difficult to ascertain.

Working with media, negotiating media partnerships, and promoting socially responsible methods/ethics among the media are part of finding a solution to the problem. Media play a critical role in uncovering myths about, and the causes and consequences of, domestic violence. Given the enormous potential of media to reach millions, media advocacy serves to stimulate debate and form opinions among those most likely to influence positive change.

Background
The Network Women's Program (NWP) and the Network Media Program began administering a pilot grant project in 2000 as the first step in a long-term project on violence against women and the role of the media in raising public awareness. The grant program was announced again in 2001 and 2002, and a seminar component was introduced in order to build the capacity of women's NGOs and to improve the quality of the media campaigns. Participants in the seminars were introduced to different approaches to the planning, implementation, tools and effectiveness of media campaigns, and, in 2002, also to the analysis of the effectiveness of 2001 campaigns.

In 2003 NWP is focusing on encouraging the establishment of regional coalitions for organizing the 16 Days Media Campaigns. Hopefully it will allow for the supported NGOs to get easier access to media, and become more recognized on the international level. For the sake of effectiveness, NWP decided to run the project on an invitation basis (as opposed to the open competition format of the previous years). NWP continues working with those NGOs that received support in the past two years, and that organized the most successful campaigns. Participating countries have been divided into four regions. Initial regional project planning workshops will be held in order to create a forum for the involved NGOs to get together and draft the joint project proposals for the year 2003 campaigns. Further aims of the workshop are developing new partnerships and building sustainability. Apart from strategizing and proposal writing, the workshop will also focus on coalition building—in order to avoid centralized projects and to make sure that the coalition work becomes an empowering experience for all participating NGOs.

16 Days Workshop dates and locations:

Although no separate workshop will be held for these countries, they are also invited to cooperate and submit a joint project proposal according to the following:

The Aim of the Grant Program

Via the grant project, the Network Women's Program and the Network Media Program would like to encourage and support NGOs to take part in the global "16 Days" campaign. The focus of the campaign should be on violence against women including all forms of gender-based violence that results in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women (e.g., domestic violence, trafficking). Campaigns are recommended to challenge myths and taboos, explain the causes and consequences of violence against women, address prevention strategies, etc. instead of focusing on child abuse and children's issues in general, on alcoholism, and on violence against men.)

The main aims are:

1. Raising awareness of violence against women as a violation of human rights.
   To include the following:
   • Multimedia (multiple media) saturation campaign (high media coverage); public service announcements; publicity; effective media output
   • Involving a wide cross-section of society (different sectors, different interests)
   • Place emphasis on connecting national efforts to international 16 Days of Activism; using international models locally
     
2. Motivating governments to change legislation or governmental programs to prevent violence against women and provide support for those in need.
   For example, one of the following:
   • Building public support for necessary changes and/or improved legislation regarding violence against women
   • Including government representatives, officials in campaign activities
   • Persuading national and local governments to provide adequate financial resources for implementing new programs and services to prevent and combat violence against women
   • To initiate gender-sensitive policies in national and local governmental institutions
3. Strengthening the capacity of civil society organizations to effectively advocate and lobby for programs that prevent and combat violence against women.
   To include the following:
   • Coordination and cooperation among several nongovernmental organizations active in the prevention of violence against women
   • Building/strengthening coalitions among governmental institutions, nongovernmental organizations, media, and all stakeholders connected to the issue
   • Systematic, realistic model for action that correspond to stated objectives of the campaign

Applicant Eligibility to the Media Campaign Grant

The precondition for receiving a grant is cross-border cooperation among invited NGOs. The cooperation of media partners (independent, private or public broadcast stations, newspapers, magazines and news agencies) that will provide in-kind contributions (free space in newspapers, broadcast airtime for advertising, public service announcements on the radio or TV) is also a requirement.

The NGOs in coalition submit one joint proposal in which there is a clear division of tasks to be completed within the coordinated regional campaign, including a clear division of budget lines and grant amounts to be given to each participating NGO for the respective tasks they overtake. Applicants are also requested to include in the joint proposal the plans of their national campaigns and a description of the activities to be done in their respective countries, as well as the corresponding budgets.

The amount of requested funding can be up to USD 20,000 (for the entire coordinated regional campaign).

Deadlines for the year 2003 Media Campaign small grants competition: