Category: Donors and Partners

European Commission

DONOR
The European Commission (EC) is the EU’s executive arm. It takes decisions on the Union’s political and strategic direction.

The European Commission represents the interests of the EU as a whole. It proposes new legislation to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, and it ensures that EU law is correctly applied by member countries.

The Commission’s other main roles are to set objectives and priorities for action, manage and implement EU policies and the budget, enforce European law (jointly with the Court of Justice), and to represent the EU outside of Europe.

The EC currently supports the following BIRN Hub programmes:

  • Resonant Voices Initiative in the EU – supported through the Civil Society Empowerment Programme. Main Implementer: Stichting Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) – Netherlands. Partners: BIRN Hub and  Foundation Propulsion Fund – Serbia.
  • Technical Assistance to Public Service Media in the Western Balkans – supported through a grant from the European Commission DG NEAR D.5 – in which BIRN Hub is a part of consortium led by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and in cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Austrian public broadcaster ORF, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), and the Office of the Eurovision News Exchange for South-East Europe (ERNO).
  • Strengthening Quality News and Independent Journalism in the Western Balkans and Turkey – supported through a grant from the European Commission Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. The main implementer is BIRN Hub and partners are Thomson Media gGmbH (TM), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Central European University (CEU CMDS), the Media Association of South-East Europe (MASEE), the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN CG), the Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers in Macedonia (SSNM), BIRN Albania and BIRN Serbia.

Web: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/index_en

Rockefeller Brothers Fund

DONOR
Founded in 1940, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world.

In the Western Balkans, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) has worked since 2001 to achieve restorative justice after the devastating conflicts of the 1990s, to build civil society institutions, and to increase government accountability, especially on matters of environmental concern. It makes numerous grants to organisations working to prepare the Balkan nations to meet the requirements for membership of the European Union.

The Fund focuses on Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help them complete the process of integration into the EU. The interdependence among the countries, common challenges they face, and the potential they possess together as a subregion of the European Union present a unique opportunity for successful integration. The Fund supports civil society initiatives that advance collaboration and enhance the capacity for sustainable development and enduring peace in the region.

BIRN Hub

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has been an institutional donor to BIRN Hub since 2009.

BIRN Kosovo

The RBF currently provides general support to BIRN Kosovo, in backing efforts to improve practices, performance, transparency, and accountability in governance. It has supported the organisation though projects and general support for a decade.

Web: https://www.rbf.org/

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

DONOR
The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) is a political foundation with a focus on civic education programmes promoting freedom and liberty, peace and justice. The KAS has 16 regional offices in Germany. Its offices abroad are in charge of over 200 projects in more than 120 countries.

The BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting has been organised in cooperation with the KAS’s Medienprogramm Südosteuropa/Media Program South East Europe since 2012. The Summer School enhances the reporting skills and journalistic standards of journalists from the Balkans and beyond, training 20 journalists from the Balkan region and 10 international journalists each year.

Web: https://www.kas.de/home

Association of Online Media – AOM

PARTNER
Association of Online Media – AOM was established in 2015 and gathers more than 20 independent digital media outlets.

Its goal is to develop and promote ethical standards of reporting on the Internet as well as strengthening the role of online media in the democratisation of society.

AOM aims to improve the online media and civil society organizations cooperation and to raise citizens and authorities awareness about online media and their role in public information.

Web: http://www.aom.rs/

Kosovo Foundation for Open Society – KFOS

DONOR
The Kosovo Foundation for Open Society is a local non-governmental organisation and part of the international network of philanthropic foundations financed by George Soros.

The Foundation works with government and civil society to strengthen capacities, improve implementation of existing policies and develop new strategic directions.

It does so both through developing and implementing its own projects, and by supporting Kosovo’s organisations that require both financial and operational assistance.

Web: https://kfos.org/