Uzbekistan: Call for participation in a sub-grant program on gender disinformation

DW Akademie together with its partner in Uzbekistan Modern Journalism Development Center invites Uzbek youth organisations to apply to the sub-grants (FSTP) program of the EU-funded project "Tabassum: Media Skills to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Young Women in Uzbekistan."

The sub-grants are provided for the development of hands-on innovative initiatives to detect and combat gender-based disinformation online and raise awareness on online harassment. The grant enables youth organisations to create relevant content on gendered disinformation and to share their knowledge and expertise with peers, thus, to actively engage in the public life of their communities.

Find the complete calls in Russian, Uzbek and English in the downloads section below.

Apply by August 15, 2024.

Gender-based disinformation is a global trend also relevant to Uzbekistan that focuses on the intersection between disinformation and gender. This includes women being disproportionately targeted and harassed online by the spread of deceptive or inaccurate content about them. The techniques for spreading gendered disinformation are diverse, ranging from misogynist comments that reinforce gender stereotypes to spreading sexualised, graphic content and online harassment including threats of violence or even cyber-attacks. This form of online gender-based abuse often forces women to avoid digital public spaces and to withdraw from any active public participation. Women often know little about the mechanisms of gender-based disinformation and lack the capacities to recognise and counter this new phenomenon.

What do we offer?

1. 4-day capacity-building camp in Tashkent Region End-October 2024 with introductory seminars on media literacy, gendered disinformation, content production and Train-of-Trainer workshop to help you become a trainer and conduct your own workshops. All costs for the camp will be covered by DW Akademie.
2. mentorship program for the entire period of the FSTP program to support you on implementing your ideas, in particular in developing, producing and publishing your media products and conducting workshops.
3. Sub-grant up to 4000 EUR (paid in Uzbek sum based on the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan on the date of application).

Who can apply?

Uzbek youth non-commercial non-governmental organizations

• established and functioning as formal (registered, for example, NGO or public foundation) or self-governed entity. Applications from the regional branches of youth organisations are also welcome if the branch is registered as a separate legal unit.
• as student teams applying from the universities and other educational entities that are officially registered and have a bank account, a stamp and able to overtake a financial responsibility. Note: we cannot accept applications from student teams directly as we need guarantees in terms of financial management and bank accounts. Thus, we accept applications from student teams if they are backed-up by their faculties, universities / institutes even if their legal status is state or private and not representing civil society organisations (CSOs).
• that is independent from the government and other public authorities or political parties. Being recipient of the state grants is possible but any direct and fully affiliation or dependence on the state institutions is a criterion for exclusion from the competition.
• represented by at least 3 members at age 18-25 or work with youth at age 18-25.
• who have basic knowledge in online disinformation, digital literacy and content creation.
• who have basic experience of financial and narrative reporting as well as financial and organisational capacity to manage the sub-grant.
• who demonstrate active civil engagement and leadership skills.

Your ideas will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• relevance for your target audience,
• motivation,
• digital skills, interest in MIL and human rights,
• readiness to act as a multiplier (and transfer gained knowledge and experience further to your colleagues / peers)
• representation of a region (beyond the capital),
• commitment to the objectives of the call for proposal and FSTP requirements (timeline, participation in mentorships, grant management, non-discriminatory approach),
• practical, innovative and sustainable approach on gendered disinformation,
• outreach of the initiative results,
• value for money.

We expect

• you commit to participate in the planned capacity-building camp and mentorship sessions as they are mandatory parts of the funding.
• you ensure to produce and publish in your social media channels or relevant platforms you selected at least 10 media products on gendered disinformation in any formats – it could be short posts, reels, video, podcasts, articles and so on - by the End-October 2025 and the respective links to your completed product are provided.
• you conduct at least 3 self-organised workshops for your peers / youth of your target audiences to share further the knowledge and skills on media and information literacy (MIL) and gendered disinformation. The workshops could be carried out online or in person by the End-October 2025. Each workshop targets at least 15 participants.
• your final content pieces are either in Uzbek or Russian.
• you submit narrative reports describing production process and results, including audience data and documentation on the media products / content you produced and workshops.
• you submit financial reports with detailed proof of expenses, such as payment receipts, invoices, throughout the project implementation period.
• your final content product as well as the documentation of the production stages will be used for visibility measures in line with EU visibility requirements of the Tabassum project.
• you are ready for interviews or other forms of accompanying media coverage of the EU Tabassum project.
• your products / content produced must adhere to the legislation of Uzbekistan and the values of the European Convention on Human Rights. Products that violate the right to human dignity and the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment by, for example glorifying war, physical, psychological or sexual violence, or offending moral or religious feelings, will not be supported. 

Please apply by 15 August 24:00 Tashkent time via the application form here. Any applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. By the Mid-September you will be informed on the decision of the jury committee, if shortlisted. Then you will be able to present your idea to the jury committee during an online pitching event. By the End-September you will receive the final results of the selection and, if your application was successful, you will be invited to the capacity-building camp and receive a contract.

The selected media creators will sign a contract with the local partner of DW Akademie - Modern Journalism Development Center (MJDC) in accordance with the rules of the Tabassum project.

All ownership and rights to the ideas submitted will remain with the original rights holders. All content produced within the FSTP Program must carry the reference to the Tabassum project.

DW Akademie might change the timeline of the procedure and extend the deadline if no satisfactory applications have been received. 

If you have any additional questions, please contact us via
dw-akademie.uzbekistan@dw.com (English / Russian) with the email subject "Question on EU Tabassum FSTP Programme" or email / phone our local coordinator Sanjarbek Allayarov sallayarov@gmail.com /+998 909 081 797 (Russian / Uzbek).

The project "EU Tabassum (Smile): Media skills to promote gender equality and empower young women in Uzbekistan" is implemented by DW Akademie in cooperation with the Modern Journalism Development Center (MJDC) funded by the European Union and co-supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Tabassum aims to strengthen media & digital literacy and the communicative capacities of Uzbek women’s and youth CSOs to promote gender equality, empowerment of women, and youth inclusion. We expect that at the end of the project the target groups, journalists, bloggers, youth and women’s CSOs, increase their expertise and enhance their practical skills on gender constructive reporting, gender disinformation and media campaigning.

DW Akademie is Deutsche Welle's centre for international media development, journalism training and knowledge transfer. Our projects strengthen the human right to freedom of expression and unhindered access to information.