15 applicants benefit from BIRN’s-EU funded grant scheme

Out of 46 applications by non-governmental and media organisations and individuals, 15 of the submitted proposals have been selected for BIRN’s Medium and Small Grant Scheme, funded by the European Union.

Through this project, named “Support to Civil Society and Media Initiatives”, BIRN aims to improve the overall accountability and transparency of institutions, as well as promote human rights through the stories, documentaries and other journalistic work of the applicants.

The grant scheme is designed to contribute to strengthening independent, investigative and publicly beneficial journalism and freedom of expression in Kosovo, and will provide 13 applicants with small grants of 5,000 euros or less, and two applicants with medium grants, which range from 20,000 to 30,000 euros.

The total amount of the money to be awarded to the grantees as part of the scheme reached 103, 636.50 euros.

The grantees were selected by a professional jury, which met for the first time on January 22 to evaluate the 46 applicants. The jury evaluated 41 applications that fulfilled the eligibility criteria, while during the meeting each member of the jury presented their evaluations for each individual applicant, their comments and then a discussion ensued.

Their decision was based upon the relevance of the proposed actions and activities, creativity, quality of the financial offer, the project team’s potential and previous experience of the applicant.

The objective for the selected applicants will be to contribute to the development of investigative journalism and freedom of expression, increasing the skills of media professionals in monitoring, fact-checking and accountability across Kosovo for the public benefit. The selected projects will engage in a variety of activities including capacity building, investigative reporting, the production of documentaries, analysis of public documents and will address issues related to freedom of expression, protection of minority rights, women’s rights and the fight against corruption.

13 applicants from the selected list were awarded grants from Lot 1, Supporting document-based reporting on themes related to good governance, education, environment, economy, local governance and human rights, and 2 applicants selected were awarded grants from Lot 2, one concerned with combating high-level corruption,  and the other promoting and protecting the rights of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities.

All applicants received individual replies about their application, which also included an evaluation form with points and comments from the jury.

Below is attached the list of the successful applicants of the Call for Proposals for the Medium and Small Grant Scheme package to “Contribute to strengthening independent, investigative and publicly beneficial journalism and freedom of expression in Kosovo” project.

List of awarded grantees


15 kandidatë përfitojnë nga skema e granteve të BIRN, financuar nga BE

Prej 46 aplikacioneve nga organizata të ndryshme joqeveritare, organizata mediale dhe individë, 15 nga propozimet e paraqitura janë përzgjedhur për Skemën e Granteve të Mesme dhe të Vogla të BIRN-it, financuar nga Bashkimi Evropian.

Nëpërmjet këtij projekti, të quajtur “Përkrahja për Shoqërinë Civile dhe Iniciativat nga Mediat”, BIRN synon të përmirësojë llogaridhënien e përgjithshme dhe transparencën e institucioneve, si dhe të promovojë të drejtat e njeriut përmes tregimeve, dokumentarëve dhe punëve të tjera gazetareske të kandidatëve.

Skema e këtij granti është projektuar që të kontribuojë në forcimin e një gazetarie të pavarur, hetuese dhe me dobi publike si dhe lirinë e shprehjes në Kosovë si dhe do ti  pajisë 13 kandidatë me grante të vogla, në shumën prej 5,000 Euro ose më pak, dhe dy kandidatë me grante të mesme, shuma e të cilave do të jetë nga 20,000 deri në 30,000 Euro.

Shuma totale e të hollave që do t’u ndahen përfituesve të granteve si pjesë e skemës ka arritur në 103, 636.50 Euro.

Përfituesit e granteve u përzgjodhën nga një juri profesionale, e cila u takua për herë të parë më 22 janar për të vlerësuar të 46 kandidatët. Juria vlerësoi 41 aplikacione që përmbushën kriteret e pranueshmërisë, ndërsa gjatë takimit secili anëtar i jurisë paraqiti vlerësimet e tyre për secilin kandidat individual, komentet e tyre dhe pastaj vazhdohej me diskutime.

Vendimi i tyre bazohej në rëndësinë e veprimeve dhe aktiviteteve të propozuara, kreativitetit, cilësisë së ofertës financiare, potencialit të ekipit të projektit dhe përvojës së mëparshme të kandidatit.

Qëllimi i kandidatëve të përzgjedhur do të jetë të kontribuojnë në zhvillimin e gazetarisë hulumtuese dhe lirisë së shprehjes, duke rritur aftësitë e profesionistëve medialë në monitorimin, kontrollin e fakteve dhe llogaridhënien në Kosovë për të mirën e publikut.

Projektet e përzgjedhura do të angazhohen në një sërë aktivitetesh duke përfshirë ndërtimin e kapaciteteve, raportimin hetimor, prodhimin e dokumentarëve, analizën e dokumenteve publike dhe do të trajtojë çështjet që kanë të bëjnë me lirinë e shprehjes, mbrojtjen e të drejtave të pakicave, të drejtat e grave dhe luftën kundër korrupsionit.

13 kandidatë nga lista e përzgjedhur kanë përfituar nga Pjesa 1, dokumenti mbështetës-bazuar në raportime mbi temat që lidhen me qeverisjen e mirë, arsimin, mjedisin, ekonominë, qeverisjen lokale dhe të drejtat e njeriut, dhe dy kandidatë janë përzgjedhur përfitues nga Pjesa 2, njëri prej tyre ka të bëjë me luftimin e korrupsionit të nivelit të lartë, ndërsa tjetri ka të bëjë me promovimin dhe mbrojtjen e të drejtave të komunitetit rom, ashkali dhe egjiptian.

Të gjithë kandidatët pranuan përgjigje individuale rreth aplikimit të tyre, ku po ashtu përfshihej edhe një formular vlerësimi me pikat dhe komentet nga juria.

Më poshtë mund ta gjeni të bashkangjitur listën e kandidatëve të suksesshëm të Thirrja për Propozime për Paketën e Skemës së granteve të Mesme dhe të Vogla në projektin “Kontributi për fuqizimin e gazetarisë së pavarur, hulumtuese dhe për të mirën publike si dhe lirisë së shprehjes në Kosovë.”

Lista e perfituesve te granteve


15 kandidata dobitnici šeme grantova BIRN-a, koju finansira EU

Od 46 prijava nevladinih i medijskih organizacija i pojedinaca, 15 predloga izabrano je za Šemu malih i srednjih grantova BIRN-a, koju je finansijski omogućila Evropska unija.

Ovim projektom koji nosi naziv „Podrška građanskom društvu i medijskim inicijativama”, BIRN ima za cilj da poboljša opštu odgovornost i transparentnost institucija i da promoviše ljudska prava kroz objavljivanje novinarskih priča, dokumentarnih filmova i drugih novinarskih radova kandidata.

Šema grantova je osmišljena tako da doprinese jačanju nezavisnog, istraživačkog novinarstva za dobrobit javnosti i slobode izražavanja na Kosovu i obezbeđuje male grantove u iznosu do 5,000 evra za 13 kandidata, dok će dva kandidata  dobiti srednje grantove, čija se vrednost kreće u rasponu od 20,000 do 30,000 evra.

Ukupan iznos novca koji će se dodeliti dobitnicima grantova, u sklopu ove šeme, dostigao je 103, 636.50 evra.

Dobitnike grantova  izabrao je profesionalni žiri, koji se sastao prvi put 22. januara da proceni svih 46 kandidata. Žiri je procenio 41 prijavu koja je ispunjavala formalne kriterijume, dok je tokom sastanka svaki član žirija predstavio svoje ocene i komentare za svakog kandidata pojedinačno, nakon čega je nastavljeno sa diskusijom.

Njihova odluka je zasnovana na značaju predloženih radnji i aktivnosti, kreativnosti, kvalitetu njihove finansijske ponude, potencijalu projektnog tima i prethodnom iskustvu kandidata.

Cilj izabranih kandidata biće da doprinesu razvoju istraživačkog novinarstva i slobode izražavanja, podizanjem veština medijskih stručnjaka na praćenju, proveri činjenica i odgovornosti na Kosovu, za dobrobit javnosti.

Izabrani projekti će biti uključeni u niz aktivnosti, među kojima one o izgradnji kapaciteta, istraživačkom izveštavanju, izradi dokumentaraca, analizi javnih dokumenata i pozabaviće se pitanjima u vezi sa slobodom izražavanja, zaštitom prava manjinskih zajednica, žena i borbom protiv korupcije.

13 kandidata sa izabrane liste su dobitnici grantova iz Lot. 1: Izveštavanje o temama u vezi sa dobrom upravom, obrazovanjem, životnom sredinom, privredom, lokalnom upravom i ljudskim pravima, a dva kandidata su izabrana za dobitnike Lot 2: Jedan od njih se bavi suzbijanjem korupcije visokog nivoa, dok se drugi bavi promovisanjem i zaštitom prava zajednica Roma, Aškalija i Egipćana.

Svi kandidati su dobili individualne odgovore u vezi sa prijavama, što je takođe podrazumevalo i obrazac procene sa bodovima i komentarima žirija.

U nastavku možete naći listu uspešnih kandidata u sklopu Poziva za podnošenje predloga za paket šeme malih i srednjih subvencija na projektu „Doprinos jačaju nezavisnog, istraživačkog novinarstva za dobrobit javnosti i slobode izražavanja na Kosovu.”

Lista dobitnika subvencija

CSOs as Equal Partners in Monitoring Public Finances

BIRN Kosovo

Although CSOs in the Western Balkans have been implementing diverse activities related to public finance and financial institutions, these activities have not been systematically conducted.

Summary

Within the region the influence of CSOs in policy and decision making on public finance is poor. Therefore, CSOs recognized the growing need for systematic monitoring of public finance and financial institutions. The existing know-how in the region can be upgraded through the sharing and transfer among various shareholders.

Information Sheet

Donor:

European Commission

Main Objective:

The overall objective of the action is to improve the accountability and transparency of the public finance in seven targeted countries by strengthening the CSOs role and voice in monitoring the institutions’ performance in the area of public finance.

Specific Objective:

Strengthening regional CSO knowledge and capacity to monitor public finances and build know-how in advocating for transparency and accountability of public finance among the 10 partners and 80 other CSOs in the region

Establish networking and cooperation platform of CSOs and other actors on monitoring of public finance at local, regional and EU level.

Strengthen CSO watchdog and advocacy role.

Main Activities:

  • Sharing of know-how
  • Networking
  • WP3 Monitoring / watchdog
  • Advocacy
  • Communication
  • Organizational capacity building

Target Groups:

  • Civil society organisations,
  • Public authorities,
  • Media

Main implementer:

Foundation Wings of Hope (Leading Partner – Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Donor:

BIRN Kosovo, Za Zamiata (Bulgaria), Fractal (Serbia), CEKOR (Serbia), NVO MANS (Montenegro), Analytica (Macedonia), EnaBana (Slovenia), FOCUS (Slovenia), Center for Ecology and Energy (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

BIG Deal – Monitoring of the Implementation of the Brussels Agreement

BIRN Kosovo

Supporting the monitoring of the Brussels agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and ensuring a transparent and accountable leadership.

Summary

Supporting the monitoring of the Brussels agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and ensuring a transparent and accountable leadership.

Information Sheet

Donor:

The Balkan Trust for Democracy – BTD

Main Objective:

Increased transparency on the implementation of the EU-backed Kosovo-Serbia agreement that specifically affects the lives of citizens at the local level through producing and publishing accurate information for the public.

Specific Objectives: 

  • Shaping attitudes in order for the community to create a permissive environment for successful prevention of violent extremism;
  • Encourage public participation in prevention of violent extremism and the process of building resilience.

Main Activities:

  • Monitoring the progress reached in the implementation of the Brussels agreement. All findings will be published as part of the BIG DEAL initiative and will be disseminated across local, regional and international stakeholders;
  • Publishing news in Albaninan, Serbian and English regarding the implementation of the agreement, generated by researching and monitoring activities on a bi-monthly basis;
  • Producing and publishing TV programs on justice integration and the association of the municipalities.

Target Groups:

  • Negotiators,
  • Decision makers
  • Civil Society

Highlights:

By providing more information to the citizens regarding the dialogue, they will become part of the decision making process, which will improve the relationship between communities in Kosovo and will create a safer environment. All commuities of Kosovo will be involved and will gain knowledge while criticizing, supporting, and pushing for a better implementation of the Brussels Agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

Monitoring the Public Consultation Process at Government Level 2018

BIRN Kosovo

BIRN Kosovo, through this initiative, is engaged in monitoring Kosovo’s judicial system.

Summary

BIRN Kosovo monitors the public consultation process for relevant government documents developed during 2018 and report on monitoring outcomes.

Information Sheet

Donor:

Kosovo Civil Society Foundation (KCSF)

Main Objective:

Pressure on the Government of Kosovo during the decision-making process and policy-making to increase the participation of the civil society in the involved processes for the benefit of citizens

Specific Objectives: 

  • Shaping attitudes in order for the community to create a permissive environment for successful prevention of violent extremism;
  • Encourage public participation in prevention of violent extremism and the process of building resilience.

Main Activities:

  • Undertaking monitoring
  • Communicating with the respective governmental unit to anticipate the starting time and expected results of the process;

Target Groups:

  • Public Institutions;
  • Civil Society;
  • Media Outlets.

Xheneta Murtezaj

Xheneta Murtezaj has been engaged as a journalist at KALLXO.com since July 2018, initially as an intern, and within a few months was promoted to the position of Junior Journalist.

She has a Bachelor degree from the College of Mass Communication in Journalism from AAB College, and now she is now undertaking a Master degree in Public Administration and Diplomacy at AAB College.

Xheneta deals mainly with social issues and local governance, but reports widely across other sectors as well.

Isa Vatovci

Isa Vatovci has been part of the Kallxo.com team since September 2018.

He has a long experience as a journalist and has worked in several media. He graduated in the Faculty of Philology at the Department of Literature and Albanian Language. His specialty is culture, topics around inheritance and social issues.

Emirjeta Vllahiu

Emirjeta Vllahiu joined the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in July 2018. She was initially engaged as an intern and currently is a junior journalist at KALLXO.com.

She graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Pristina, and is now completing a Master of Journalism and Public Relations at the same university. Before joining BIRN, Emirjeta worked as a journalist at the online media organisation AktivPress.

She covers mainly political developments in the country, research on social topics, and daily news.

Emirjeta was awarded the “Annual Child Protection Award 2018” by the Coalition of NGOs for Child Protection (KOMF).

BIRN Kosovo’s ‘Friday Forums’ Attract Diplomats and Politicians

BIRN Kosovo’s Friday Forums, organised each month since 2015, are events to which public officials and diplomats are invited to have an open, off-the-record conversations with all BIRN’s staff based in municipalities across Kosovo.

Past attendees have included senior officials from Kosovo and international diplomats.

“The point of these briefings is that our staff gets to pose better informed questions when they are covering a topic, and by meeting a lot of officials and diplomats in an off-the-record setting, they will know more about the topic, than from what they are likely to get from formal declarations,” said BIRN Kosovo’s director, Jeta Xharra.

Friday Forums are organised under Chatham House rules – the format used by Britain’s Royal Institute of International Affairs, with the aim of encouraging openness of discussion and facilitating the sharing of information. The format is now used throughout the world as an aid to free discussion of sensitive issues.

On February 1, Rozafa Ukimeraj, secretary of the Ministry of Local Governance, was BIRN Kosovo’s guest, along with Per Strand Sjaastad, the Norwegian ambassador to Kosovo.

Before that, at the end of October 2018, Rashit Qalaj, the director of the Kosovo Police, took part in a fruitful discussion with journalists just a few months after taking office.

On those Fridays when there are no guests, BIRN staff discuss relevant issues.

Friday Forums have in the past hosted: Natalya Apostolova and Samuel Zbogar, heads of the EU office in Kosovo; Christian Heldt and Angelica Viets, German ambassadors to Kosovo; Tracey Jacobson and Greg Delawie, US ambassadors to Kosovo, and Ruairi O’Connell, the UK Ambassador.

They have also hosted: Valdet Gashi, former Kosovo liaison officer to Serbia; Besim Kelmendi, former special prosecutor; Piero Cristoforo Sardi, the Italian Ambassador to Kosovo; Zoran Vodopija and Marija Kapitanovic, Croatian ambassadors to Kosovo; former President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga; head of Kosovo delegation, Avni Arifi, and the current President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, among others.

BIRN Kosovo Publishes Municipal Procurement Report

BIRN Kosovo, with the support of USAID, published a report on Thursday about procurement procedures in Kosovo’s municipalities from October 2017 to October 2018.

The publication analyses procurement procedures involving key actors from Kosovo institutions including government officials, Kosovo Assembly members and non-governmental organisations.

BIRN discovered that only a limited number of complaints about procurements were resolved in favour of businesses that appealed, with most decisions going in favour of the municipalities. Municipalities did not change their decisions despite demands from businesses to review their decisions, the report found.

Of a total of 272 demands for review, only 15 per cent of the complaints were decided in favour of economic operators – 41 in total – while 85 per cent, or 231 of the reviewed complaints, were decided in favour of the contracting authorities.

Kreshnik Gashi, the managing editor of BIRN Kosovo, said that BIRN has been working for several years to identify problems with public procurement procedures.

“We have monitored what we call the ‘holes in procurement’ which steal from the state’s budget. We have identified many of them and fortunately many of these gaps have been filled,” Gashi said.

The proper functioning of electronic procurement implementation and the publication of related contracts were among the positive developments recorded in 2018, which have helped to increase transparency in institutional procurement procedures.

Christina Davies, the director of USAID for Democracy and Governance, said that Kosovo has tried to improve the situation, but challenges remain.

“Kosovo has made efforts to increase transparency. However, corruption remains an obstacle for the future,” Davies said.

With the new report, BIRN Kosovo concluded its project on procurement and violations in procurement which was supported by USAID.

BIRN’s Krypometer Receives New Fact-Checking License

The International Fact-Checking Network, IFCN, has granted BIRN’s Krypometer an extended license to operate after a careful assessment of the work of this product.

In a published announcement, it said that following careful evaluation of the specific criteria, the Krypometer, a product of Kallxo.com, is an exclusively fact-checking initiative that operates within a legally registered organisation.

Its quality was based on an assessment of published stories from September, October and November of the previous year.

“The general conclusion is that the reporting seems to be in line with the principles of fairness, political impartiality and factuality,” the IFCN announcement said.

“Public information about the organisation, its employees and financial resources is accessible. The fact-checking methodology is explained, corrections are highlighted where such interventions are made in the text,” the announcement added.

Faik Ispahiu, director of Internews Kosova, called it an “internationally credible assessment of the work and the way of reporting” at Kallxo.com.

“Certification by the IFCN and public confidence makes us proud and strengthens our confidence that Kosovo can be a state of true values and achievements,” he added.

Jeta Xharra, director of BIRN Kosovo, recalled the hard work done to receive this positive assessment from the IFCN.

“IFCN has a system where it is not enough to be good only at the beginning (in 2018, when we were accredited for the first time); in fact, they have assessed our fact-checking methodology in a continuous manner,” Xharra said.

“I and my colleagues need to make sure we reach the proper level each year because we are the subject of a yearly audit from this international mechanism,” she added.

Krypometer’s goal is to reflect on the credibility of public statements from political figures on issues of major importance, be they local, central or international.

Krypometer does not focus only on the political accusations and counter-accusations commonly used during election campaigns.

It aims also to explain more complex matters, provide the context or history of statements and present a data analysis, as well as an explanation of how politicians, diplomats and others phrase and formulate their opinions, so as to distort or shadow the truth.

Kallxo.com and the TV show Jeta ne Kosove  are part of the IFCN of the US-based Poynter Institute, which is a media organisation that is dedicated to promoting excellence in fact-checking.

Tools to impartially and transparently verify facts are seen as powerful for accountable journalism. BIRN Kosovo and Internews Kosova are signatories to this code of principles, which was announced on September 15, 2016.