BIRN (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network) - A Paper Trail to Better Governance III



Contract partner: BIRN - Balkan Investigative Reporting Network Country: Europa, regional/länderübergreifend Funding amount: € 650.000,00 Project start: 01.02.2020 End: 30.04.2023

Short Description:

Overall goal


The project is expected to contribute to a substantially reduced corruption and bribery in all their forms (SDG 16.5).

The Project contributes to a better functioning of the public sector that abides by the principles of transparency and accountability to its citizens (linked to SDG 16.6 and 16.10).

 


Expected results


1. Increased skills of investigative and young journalists in the Western Balkans;

2. Exposed (including cross-border) wrongdoings of public institutions, public or private companies and individuals, through multimedia investigations;

3. General public informed on open government principles, and compliance of public institutions on Freedom of Information (FoI) laws;

4. BIRN’s Investigative Resource Desk (BIRD) platform upgraded and its tools accessible for free which stimulates cross border cooperation among journalists, civil society and technology experts for promoting open data governance.

 


Target group / Beneficiaries


Direct beneficiaries in project countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia are:

100 Men and women investigative journalists, 25 young journalists, 200 researchers, 10 media outlets, and the general public;

Indirect beneficiaries – 20 Public Institutions, 150 Journalists, 50 stakeholders, 4 Universities, 20 Media Outlets and the general public (at least 3 million people exposed to published material resulting from investigative reporting, monitoring of public institutions compliance with legislation and annual review reports published).

 


Activities


Main summarized project activities:

1) Journalistic trainings, including on gender equality, and internship for young journalists in BIRN offices;

2) Production of 25 investigations, interviews, analysis, news pieces, on cross-border and country-based issues, and video production

3) Production of Annual Regional Reviews on freedom of information

4) Upgrade and further develop the BIRN’s Investigative Resource Desk (BIRD).

 


Context


On the basis of a previous successful cooperation and its diverse expertise, BIRN Kosovo and BIRN Hub (partner) have designed a cross-regional action which responds to the European Commission’s (EC’s) membership conditions, aiming to strengthen the rule of law, more accountable governance and judiciary in the Western Balkan (WB) region. The project will directly contribute to SDG targets 16, 6, and 16.10, through advocating for a better functioning of public sector that abides by the principles of transparency and accountability to its citizens.

project number 8297-00/2020
source of funding OEZA
sector Staatsführung & Zivilgesellschaft, allgemein
tied
modality Project-type interventions
marker Democracy: 2
  • Policy marker: are used to identify, assess and facilitate the monitoring of activities in support of policy objectives concerning gender equality, aid to environment, participatory development/good governance, trade development and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. Activities targeting the objectives of the Rio Conventions include the identification of biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and desertification.
    • 1= policy is a significant objective of the activity
    • 2= policy is the principal objective of the activity
  • Donor/ source of funding: The ADA is not only implementing projects and programmes of the Austrian Development Cooperation , but also projects funded from other sources and donors such as
    • AKF - Foreign Disaster Fund of the Austrian federal government
    • BMLFUW - Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water
    • EU - Funds of the European Commission
    • Others - various other donors are listed in ADA’s annual business report.
  • Type of Aid – Aid modalities: classifies transfers from the donor to the first recipient of funds such as budget support, core contributions and pooled programmes and funds to CSOs and multilateral organisations, project-type interventions, experts and other technical assistance, scholarships and student costs in donor countries, debt relief, administrative costs and other in-donor expenditures.
  • Purpose/ sector code: classifies the specific area of the recipient’s economic or social structure, funded by a bilateral contribution.
  • Tied/Untied: Untied aid is defined as loans and grants whose proceeds are fully and freely available to finance procurement from all OECD countries and substantially all developing countries. Transactions are considered tied unless the donor has, at the time of the aid offer, clearly specified a range of countries eligible for procurement which meets the tests for “untied” aid.
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