CURRENT PROJECTS:
HEDAYAH
The Association of Journalists of Macedonia in cooperation with Initiative for European Perspective (IEP) and the Institute for peace, security and policy research Konica in the period from December 2019 to December 2020 will implement the project “Building resilience against violent terrorism and extremism through reinforced journalists, media and government officials.” The main objective of this project is to strengthen the capacity of the media and state authorities to communicate violent extremism and terrorism in a way that reduces the threat of it. The AJM budget for the implementation of this project is 34,098 euro.
Key priority of this project is the education of future journalists, professional journalists, editors and broadcasters. Addressing the current challenge of reporting about violent extremism and terrorism that in most cases fails to adequately investigate the radical narrative and, at worst, aids their goals.
Sigrid Rausing Trust
The Association of Journalists of Macedonia has been awarded an institutional grant from Sigrid Rausing Trust (SRT) in the amount of 45,000 pounds, it has a duration of 12 months and starts its implementation in June 2019. The purpose of the grant is to help the work of the AJM in the direction of fulfilling the mission and vision of the AJM, as well as the strategic goals of the Association envisaged in the Statute and the three-year strategic plan.
The SRT which is based in London, United Kingdom, was established back in 1995 and functions as a foundation that provides support and financial assistance for the protection of human rights globally.
The purpose of SRT is to promote the values and principles of human rights and freedoms, equality and the rule of law, and to preserve nature from further degradation. The Trust supports advocacy, creativity, research and scholarship to these ends.
European Union
Regional Project “Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety”.
In cooperation between six independent Journalists’ Associations from the Westerns Balkans, АЈМ (Macedonia) will work together with partner organisations from Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia to advocate the application of EU standards of media freedom and media pluralism and improve the safety of journalists.
Specific objective of this project is the establishment of an online platform for Early Warning and Prevention System as a mechanism of joint advocacy for implementation of EU standards in the field of media and prevention of malpractice, through capacity building, networking and exchange of knowledge between six regional journalists’ associations.
The project is funded by the European Commission as part of the media programme to support regional thematic networks of Civil Society Organisations.
FINISHED PROJECTS:
Embassy of the Netherlands in North Macedonia
In 2019, the Association of Journalists of Macedonia will implement the project “Safe Journalists for Credible Information in Macedonia”. This project is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Macedonia and aims to improve the level of safety of journalists in Macedonia, to raise the awareness about the importance of professional journalism as well as to monitor the institutions that are relevant to the media and the safety of journalists.
Within the framework of this project, we will organize trainings for journalists and members of the police, two publications and protocols will be published for the journalists, the police and the judiciary. Also, at the end of the year, an annual report with indicators on the safety of journalists will be published, scoping the legal environment for the work of the media, as well as the social situation of journalists and media workers.
OSCE Mission to Skopje
The Association of Journalists of Macedonia and the OSCE Mission to Skopje on March 28th, 2018, signed a Memorandum of understanding, which envisages the organization of a series of activities aiming to improve the safety of journalists and to improve the quality of journalists’ reporting. The memorandum of cooperation envisages six trainings for journalists and members of the police that will be dedicated to the way high risk events are being be covered by journalists. Within these activities, a manual on Journalist safety will be published as well, and a joint event will mark the 2nd of November, the International Day for the Fight against Impunity of Violence against Journalists.
The cooperation between AJM and the OSCE Mission to Skopje will continue in 2019 as well. Within the joint activities, we will organize trainings for journalists and representatives of the police, as well as representatives of the courts and the public prosecutor’s office, and the main focus will be on increasing the safety of journalists in Macedonia. In addition, two policy documents will be published. We will also work on creating a new strategic plan of the AJM which will be implemented from 2019 to 2023 and will be assisted by the OSCE Mission to Skopje.