The U.S. Embassy Monrovia Public Affairs Section is offering this grant to bolster investigative reporting and encourage democratic resiliency in Liberia.

For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply.

The U.S. Embassy Monrovia Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to submit proposals to bolster investigative reporting and encourage democratic resiliency in Liberia in the lead up to the 2nd Summit for Democracy in December 2022.

This grant provides funding for 28 news productions (written, audio/video, and/or visual) that utilize Liberian investigative reporters and report on contextual issues relevant to the commitments made by the Government of Liberia during the 2021 Summit for Democracy, including:

·        Amending the Anti-Corruption Act to strengthen prosecutorial powers

·        Establishing a dedicated criminal court for the prosecution and convictions of public officials, individuals, or institutions engaged in corrupt practices and financial offenses

·        Continuing efforts to reduce and ultimately end gender-based violence

·        Engaging with traditional leaders “to end all forms of harmful traditional practices”

·        Proposing an anti-female genital mutilation bill

·        Committing to fairness, transparency, and accountability in election funding

·        Prioritizing the participation of more women in the electoral process and in key positions in the government

·        Making all legislative votes public with individual legislators’ votes tracked

·        Formalizing customary land tenure

The NGO grantee must provide support to the reporters in reporting, editing, and logistics associated with each production, including issues that may arise after publishing, with the overall objective of media practitioner development. The productions must be published in local media houses for a general Liberian audience. The support staff must include U.S. citizen experts in the production process.

The U.S. Embassy will only provide funding to the implementing partner’s support for investigative journalists and will enact no editorial oversight of production topics, production process, or of the final product.

Applicants should describe their experience supporting reporters in Liberia or in similar media environments, the type of journalism expertise they are able to provide, how they will select the reporters or media institutions with which they will work, and, in general, how they will support their local partners. In addition, applicants should describe their publication plan for the resulting productions. Please carefully follow all the instructions in your application as spelled out below.

The program supports the Embassy’s strategic goal of supporting democratic resiliency in Liberia in the lead up to the December 2022 Summit for Democracy. Both the United States and Liberia committed to an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action. The program also supports the professionalization of local media. Ideal applicants are media-focused NGOs with experience working in Liberia, including already established networks.

Program Objectives

The program implementer will independently liaise with and support local reporters, determine the content and format of productions, distribute the productions to local media, and track local reach and reaction to each production.

The objectives of the program will include:

1)   Demonstrate to the Liberian public the importance of a free press to democratic resiliency

2)   Develop the capacity of the Liberian media for objective reporting and fact-checking

3)   Encourage the Government of Liberia during the “year of action” to realize its commitments made at the 2021 Summit for Democracy

4)   Communicate the U.S. Government’s commitment to good governance and democratic values