Application Deadline: March 31, 2022
Cultural Survival is pleased to announce its fifth call for proposals for Indigenous Community Media Youth Fellowships to support individuals or groups of young Indigenous communicators and artists to develop their communication skills (radio, audiovisual, print media) through specific training and other educational opportunities. The fellowships will be awarded to young people in the following countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Nepal, and northern India. (We will give priority to applicants from the Amazon Basin regions and to projects that include Indigenous languages).
With years of experience coordinating capacity building efforts through workshops, conferences, radio station exchanges, facilitating the development of regional networks, and supporting advocacy efforts to legalize and democratize community media, Cultural Survival elevates the experience, assets, and expertise of the communities that we partner with through our Indigenous Community Media Fund. We believe that it is crucial to listen and respond to the self-determined needs of the communities in order to provide support that is sustainable and most importantly, pertinent to the needs of the community. Indigenous youth are the future of their communities and developing youth leadership is an integral part of ensuring communities’ well being.
This year the fellowship program will support individuals or groups of young Indigenous communicators (women, men, and non-binary folks) between the ages of 16 and 28. Each fellow will receive up to $2,500 USD to implement their project during a 6 month period. Applicants must be able to work and travel (if possible depending on the circumstances) independently and be responsible for implementing their proposed projects. The fellows will work jointly with a Cultural Survival staff member and a personal local mentor, who will provide support throughout the fellowship process.
The Indigenous Community Media Youth Fellowship Project is guided by the following priorities:
1. The proposed fellowship project must include some of the following themes:
- Environment
- Strengthening and revitalization of Indigenous languages
- Collective management of natural resources
- Solutions to climate change
- Recovery of cosmogonies and ancestry
- Empowerment and youth participation
- Critical and decolonizing thinking
- Indigenous women's rights
2. If your proposal is a group application, we recommend:
- Equality in the distribution of responsibilities
- Equality in the participation of men and women and inclusion of other genders
3. Your fellowship project must be designed to:
- Produce radio, audiovisual, written, or artistic materials
- Be based in a community organization
- Build capacity in journalism
- Include an animated short video project of Indigenous oral traditions
- Build management skills in audiovisual techniques
- Use free, open source software that facilitates the editing and creation of informative content.
- Support the development of new capacities in the community through training and workshops that help the development of new communication projects
- Be a mural, poetry, oral tradition, music, and artistic expression project in relation to the themes listed in section 1.
4. Requirements for eligibility:
- Indigenous youth between the ages of 16 and 28
- Access to the internet and other forms of communication to collaborate creatively with fellows, CS team, and to be able to participate in video conferences.
- Commitment and enthusiasm to learn about technology, program development, the work of other community radio stations and the international promotion of Indigenous rights.
- Applicants must be able to work and travel (according to their context) independently and be responsible for implementing their proposed projects.
- The project can be submitted individually or as a group of young people from a community radio station.
- Applicants must reside in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil (Amazon Basin), Chile, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Nepal, or northern India.
- The total budget must not exceed an amount of $2,500 USD.
- A letter of recommendation from either a traditional authority or Indigenous community media authority in your community.
How to apply:
Proposals can be submitted in writing (2 pages max), via audio (3-5 min) or video (3-5 min) in the following languages: Spanish, English, Portuguese, Nepalese, Sunuwar, Hindi, Maya K'iche', Kaqchikel, Poqomam, Mam, Didxazá (Zapotec of the Isthmus), Ayuujk, Afrikaans, French.
The proposal can be submitted in writing, audio, or video. If the proposal is selected, CS staff will contact the applicant for additional information. The submission deadline is March 31, 2022.
For more information and to submit your proposal, contact: cat.monzon@cs.org
