European Commission has announced call for proposals to prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance and to monitor, prevent and counter hate speech online.
Taking into consideration the perpetual number of manifestations advocating racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance, such as Antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred, Afrophobia, Antigypsyism, anti-migrant hatred, transphobia, hate crimes against persons with disabilities, and considering the need to further improve responses to these phenomena.
Funding Information
The indicative maximum amount earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call for proposals is estimated at EUR 7 000 000.
Priorities
To prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance (with a focus on):
Measures to foster a better understanding and improved dialogue among different groups and communities, as well as building on the role of community leaders, youth and multipliers, on how they can contribute to such dialogue;
Concrete measures and initiatives to prevent and combat manifestations on the ground for racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance, in particular hate crime and hate speech;
Initiatives aimed at empowering, supporting and protecting groups, communities and individuals affected by manifestations of intolerance, in particular hate crime and hate speech;
To monitor, prevent and counter hate speech online (with focus on):
Measures and initiatives made by key actors collaborating (e.g. public authorities, civil society and private companies) to counter hate speech online on social media platforms/internet companies;
Education and awareness raising initiatives, in particular for youth, concerning hate speech and the promotion of tolerance narratives online;
Studies that investigate and map the triggers of hate speech and the strategies of extremist groups fueling hatred, as well as on the connections between hatred online and hate crimes in daily life.
Restricted to public authorities: to improve national authorities’ capacity to respond to racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance (with focus on):
Initiatives aimed at building capacity of national authorities to ensure better application on the ground of hate crime and hate speech legislation;
Measures aimed at setting up and/or improving victim support systems and services for victims of hate crime and hate speech, addressing underreporting, building trust between communities and public authorities;
Measures aimed at setting up and/or improving hate crime and speech recording and data collection practices at national level;
Initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation and partnerships between public authorities, civil society and community based organisations to improve responses to racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance at national level.
Expected Results
To better prevent and combat racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance
To better respond to the proliferation of hate speech online
To improve national authorities’ capacity to respond to racism, xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of intolerance
Eligibility Criteria
The Programme eligible countries are:
The Member States of the European Union, including their overseas departments
Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Republic of Serbia
Eligibility of the lead applicant (i.e. coordinator) and partners
To be eligible under the first and second priority:
The applicant and the partners must be public bodies or private organisations, duly established in one of the countries participating in the programme, or international organisations.
Organisations that are profit-oriented may only submit applications in partnership with public bodies or private non-profit organisations.
To be eligible under the third priority:
The applicant must be public authorities of one of the countries participating in the Programme; partners must be public bodies or private organisations, duly established in one of the countries participating in the Programme, or international organisations;
Under the REC programme, entities affiliated to a beneficiary and linked third parties are not considered as project participants, unless they are included as partners in the proposal.
Eligibility of the application
The project can be either national or transnational;
The application must be submitted by a partnership, including at least two organisations (applicant and partner) actively involved in the implementation of the proposed action (unless specified otherwise);
The EU grant requested cannot be lower than EUR 75 000. There is no maximum limit.
Note: for applicants and partners established in the UK: please be aware that they must comply with the eligibility criteria for the entire duration of the action for which a grant is awarded. If the UK withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular, that UK applicants and partners continue to be eligible, they will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project.