IPDC and UNESCO's Field Offices

Last update:5 January 2024

 

The IPDC provides small grants for independent media development.

While its Bureau ultimately defines the allocation of funds from its Special Account to support civil society initiatives, IPDC relies on the strong network of UNESCO Field Offices on the ground.

Role and Responsibilities

Field Offices

Key to IPDC’s bottom-up approach to media development, Field Offices are : 

  • scouting relevant local partners such as grassroot actors working to expand and enrich free and pluralistic media ;
  • assessing needs to amplify the voices of marginalized and underserved communities through a gender lens ;
  • identifying projects and local solutions addressing the challenges of free, independent and pluralistic media in the 21st century ;
  • acting as a focal point for applicants on IPDC normative activities, funding opportunities and intellectual resources such as the UNESCO Series on Journalism Education
  • ensuring the quality of projects before presenting them to the IPDC Bureau, and once approved, monitoring the grantees’ projects and their implementation reports ; 
  • identifying scalable, transferable, and replicable successful projects that can be taken up by other parts of the UNESCO's CI sector or the media community at large.

Get in touch 

 

IPDC calls for proposals are primarily advertised and socialized by the local UNESCO Field Offices. Therefore, civil society organizations, independent media institutions, academia and other media stakeholders interested in IPDC’s activities and willing to submit a proposal should contact their relevant UNESCO Field Office CI Advisors.

Field Offices will also be able to advise applicants and orient them toward the distinct and complementary Special Accounts of the wider CI sector, such as the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists (MDP) (est. 2017) and the specialized Global Media Defence Fund (GMDF) (est. 2020) where relevant.