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The Belgrade Open School (BOS) with the support of the Kingdom of Sweden is implementing the project "Advancing Media and Youth CSOs Partnership for Prosperous Democratic Development of Serbia - MAY4DD" which aims to encourage partnerships between the media and youth organizations to democratize society and respect the rule of law and human rights on a local level. The project was launched in June 2021 and will last until May 31, 2025.
Unstable democracy in the Republic of Serbia directly affects the lack of transparency, independence and pluralism of the media, investigative journalism, civic activism and the commitment of young people to solving social and political issues.
The project supported 7 youth CSOs and 7 media, which jointly implement their 7 partnership projects and initiatives.
Through financial and mentoring support, as well as the capacity building program of 14 partners annually, BOS will strive to strengthen the media, youth sector and youth and actively contribute to the democratic values of the rule of law and human rights, especially in their local communities.
The focus groups of this project face a number of challenges, and while local media lack new fact-checking tools and evidence-based investigative journalism that could prevent fake news and improve media literacy, young people face very little involvement in decision-making processes and reduced youth activism.
In addition, the content placed in the media is not adapted to young people, which we will try to bridge with this program through continuous work with youth associations and a focus on partnership projects and initiatives.
The overall goal of the Program is to contribute to the strengthening democratic practices, rule of law and human rights standards and values in Serbia, grounded in independent media reporting and youth CSOs’ activism.
The specific objectives of the Program are:
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To facilitate sustainable partnerships between media and youth CSOs in addressing issues of democratization, human rights and rule of law in local context;
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To improve young citizens’ engagement in community mobilization for pursuing necessary democratic changes;
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To advance quality and standards of investigative reporting, media information literacy and fighting against fake news in Serbia.
The project "Advancing Media and Youth CSOs Partnership for Prosperous Democratic Development of Serbia" will consist of the following units:
Program activity 1: Financial Support to Media and Youth CSOs
Financial and mentoring support will be provided for a total of 7 projects annually in four cycles, and each project will be developed and implemented by one youth CSO and one media organization, so that there will be at least 14 program beneficiaries each year.
Program activity 2: Capacity Building Hub
In order to improve the capacities of selected CSOs and media and ensure the sustainability of the project, this activity will be implemented in several methodologically different but complementary sub-activities. The capacity building and networking program will be organized at three levels. The first level includes group trainings in accordance with the needs of all program partners. The second level of training includes workshops tailored to the specific needs of youth CSOs and the media, while the third level will provide space for individual training that will allow partners to focus on the development of the organization, as well as its short-term and long-term goals.
Program activity 3: Youth Investigative Journalism 3.0
The Academy of Investigative Journalism will be organized in the form of a three-month educational program with the aim of providing young journalists with various trainings, mentoring support and networking with experienced journalists. The Academy will provide young investigative journalists with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to be able to create media products independently, but with the mentorship of experienced colleagues and financial support.
This four-year program represents a synergy between the media, youth organizations and young people working on the same mission of further democratization of Serbian society. The partnership between the media and youth CSOs will be based on common values and ideas, as well as project proposals that they will submit in partnership, while maintaining a special corpus of activities.
You can find more about the project on the website mingl.rs.