GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS
As part of the Main Project AGILE, CFI – the French Media Development Agency – wishes to promote the operational resilience and financial sustainability of exile media actors from East Africa and Southeast Asia. With this in mind, grants and technical support will be awarded to the Beneficiary or Beneficiaries selected following this Call for Proposals.
This document is not legally binding. CFI may, at any time and up until the effective conclusion of a Grant Agreement with the selected beneficiary or beneficiaries, decide unilaterally not to proceed, without giving any reason whatsoever. CFI reserves the right to amend all or part of the contents of this document or to enter into a similar agreement with a beneficiary of its choice. No candidate may raise any claim in this regard or claim any compensation whatsoever.
1. BACKGROUND
1.1. About CFI
Canal France International: a public media support agency
CFI, the French media development agency, works to ensure that everyone has access to free, quality information. It fights misinformation and defends freedom of expression and press freedom by supporting independent media, journalists and civil society players around the world in creating innovative content and consolidating sustainable media. Its work promotes verified, reliable and diverse information – which is essential to democracy – and helps to build free and sustainable information ecosystems.
CFI is an agency of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and a subsidiary of the France Médias Monde Group.
As part of its activities, CFI is implementing the AGILE project.
1.2. Background to the Call for Proposals
As part of the European Union-funded AGILE project, CFI is launching a pilot Exile Media Incubator (Activity 1.3), informed by two 2026 regional needs assessments covering exile and at-risk media in East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea) and Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia).
Both assessments find that exile is, for most affected outlets, a long-term operating condition rather than a temporary emergency, and that these organisations face compounding pressures: legal precarity in host countries, transnational repression, chronic underfunding, and a narrow donor base that left many exposed when major funders (including USAID) withdrew in 2025. Existing project-restricted funding mechanisms are poorly suited to this context, as they often exclude the kind of running costs, such as core operational expenses and staff time, that these organisations most need support with.
This Call for Proposals seeks to address these gaps by offering core support and project grants, within the applicable budget and eligibility rules of the AGILE project, to established exile media organisations, content creators, and networks of exile media organisations from these two regions. For the purposes of this Call, a network is understood as a group of at least two exile media outlets working together towards shared objectives, whether or not it has its own legal status.
The purpose of this Call for Proposals is to set out the contractual terms of the future Grant Agreement, hereinafter referred to as the “Grant Agreement”, to be concluded at a later date between CFI and the selected beneficiary or beneficiaries. The terms set out in this Call for Proposals are provisional and for information purposes only and may be subject to unilateral amendment by CFI prior to the conclusion of the Grant Agreement. Grants awarded under this Call constitute financial support to third parties under the AGILE grant agreement; beneficiaries will therefore be subject to the relevant EU rules.
This Call for Proposals does not constitute a promise to any beneficiary that a grant will be awarded in the future.
2. OBJECTIVES OF THE CALL FOR PROJECTS
2.1. Objectives and priorities
The overall objective of this Call for Proposals is to strengthen the operational resilience and sustainability of exile media organisations, content creators, and networks from East Africa and Southeast Asia.
The specific objectives of this Call for Proposals are:
- To provide core support grants (covering running costs such as staff, rent, connectivity, and legal, registration and security-related expenses) or project grants to established exile media organisations, content creators, or networks (see section 2.2);
- To strengthen recipients’ organisational resilience through complementary mentoring and technical support;
- To enable recipients, through the grant and the technical support described in section 2.3, to make progress on at least one resilience-related outcome (e.g. continuity of independent editorial operations in exile, retention of experienced editorial staff, a new or reinforced revenue stream, a digital-safety improvement, or progress on legal registration or protection).
The priorities of this Call for Proposals are:
- Safety and protection: digital, physical, and psychosocial safety, including protection against transnational repression and state-level threats;
- Legal security in the host country: legal status, registration and legal protection, including related legal or administrative costs;
- Financial sustainability: progress toward donor diversification, particularly for organisations affected by the 2025 US funding withdrawal;
- Editorial and audience development: fact-checking, editorial quality (including the use of AI tools), audience development, and skills for safe and credible reporting from exile.
2.2. Amount and types of funding made available by CFI
The indicative total amount made available under this Call for Proposals is eighty thousand euros (€80,000). This figure is for guidance only; CFI is not obliged to allocate the amount stated and may, at its sole discretion, allocate a lower amount.
Estimated amount of grants:
Any grant applied for under this Call for Proposals must fall within the following minimum and maximum amounts:
- Minimum amount: ten thousand euros (€10,000)
- Maximum amount: forty thousand euros (€40,000)
The amount awarded will be determined based on the budget requested and its assessment under criterion 5 (Project Budget). CFI may award a lower amount than requested. A total of two to eight grants will be awarded. Payments will be made as follows: a 30% down payment upon signing; a further 60% upon approval of the interim reports; and 10% upon approval of the final reports (see section 2.4).
Two types of grants may be awarded under this Call:
- Core support grants, which support the overall day-to-day activity of the beneficiary (e.g. staff, rent, connectivity, legal and security costs);
- Project grants, which fund a defined set of activities with specific objectives, timeline, and budget.
Applicants shall indicate in the Project Presentation Note (Appendix 1) which type of grant they are applying for.
2.3. Technical support provided by CFI
Successful applicants will be eligible for the following technical support from CFI, in addition to the grant:
- One-to-one mentoring on governance, strategic planning, fundraising, legal compliance and organisational resilience based on needs assessment;
- Access to a pool of technical experts for individualised, time-limited support on specific bounded needs (e.g. digital-security audit, legal opinion on registration, revenue-model review, editorial-standards review, psychosocial support, fundraising). Experts may either be suggested by participants or selected from a pool of experts made available to them;
- The option (not an obligation) to take part in peer-network activities (convenings, peer calls, shared resources) organised by the incubator, with no scoring or eligibility impact for declining.
2.4. Reporting Requirements
Beneficiaries will submit interim and final narrative and financial reports, using CFI templates, together with supporting documents for all expenditure.
The final reports must be submitted within 60 days of the end of the project. Expenditure will be subject to an external audit, arranged and paid for by CFI at the end of the project; beneficiaries must cooperate with the auditors and provide any documents requested. Supporting documents must be kept for 5 years. Where the security of staff, stringers or sources so requires, beneficiaries may use coded identifiers in supporting documents, provided that the beneficiary retains a secure key that can be verified by CFI on request through a secure channel. Reports can be submitted through a secure channel and will not be made public.
3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA for receiving the grant
3.1. Eligibility criteria relating to the status of applicant
The criteria are cumulative; if the applicant does not meet one or more of the criteria set out below, their application will be rejected by CFI. Applicants must:
- Be a legal entity registered in any country; OR, where formal registration is not possible, apply through an umbrella organisation: a legally registered organisation that signs the Grant Agreement and manages the grant on the applicant’s behalf, with the applicant as implementing partner. In this case, the umbrella organisation may either pay project expenses directly or transfer all or part of the grant to the applicant to implement the project, provided that (i) these arrangements are set out in a written agreement between the umbrella organisation and the applicant, submitted with the application, and (ii) the umbrella organisation remains fully responsible towards CFI for the use of the funds and for the applicant’s compliance with the rules of this Call;
- Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project proposed under this Call for Proposals (when applying through an umbrella organisation, the applicant is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the project, and the umbrella organisation for its legal and financial management towards CFI; for a network that is not itself a legal entity, one member organisation shall apply as lead applicant, responsible for project management and financial reporting towards CFI, and must demonstrate the administrative and financial capacity to manage the grant);
- Be an exile media organisation, content creator (applying as a legal entity or through an umbrella organisation), or network of at least two exile media outlets with activities that directly benefit its members, AND whose work relates to East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, or Eritrea) or Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Vietnam, or Cambodia), regardless of current host-country location. For the purposes of this Call, exile media are understood as media organisations, content creators or networks established in or relocated to another country, due to security concerns in their country of origin, including organisations operating from abroad with teams or stringers inside the country of origin.
- Have published original public-interest content on a regular basis for at least 12 months;
- Reach audiences in their country of origin, in East Africa (Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, or Eritrea) or Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Vietnam, or Cambodia);
- Not justify violence, and not be primarily funded by or affiliated with a state actor, political party, or politically exposed person.
3.2. Eligibility criteria relating to project activities
3.2.1. Duration
The selected projects must start no earlier than 1st January 2027 and must end no later than 31 March 2028.
The initial planned duration of the selected projects must not exceed twelve (12) months.
3.2.2. Geographical coverage
Proposed projects must relate to exile media ecosystems originating from the following countries: Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea (East Africa region) and Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia (Southeast Asia region), including those working with in-country stringers. Applicants may be based in any host country.
3.2.3. Sector(s) or subject area(s)
Independent exile media sustainability, safety, editorial quality, and resilience.
3.2.4. Type of activities
Eligible activities include, non-exhaustively:
- Core operational costs: newsroom rent, connectivity, translation workflows, staff salaries and stringer fees;
- Safety and protection: digital-security infrastructure, physical and psychosocial safety, and relocation needs;
- Legal security: legal, registration and related administrative costs;
- Business development, including donor diversification;
- Editorial and audience development, including fact-checking and the use of AI tools.
3.2.5. Ineligible activities
The following types of activities are not eligible; if the applicant’s project comprises one or more of the ineligible activities listed below, their application will be rejected by CFI:
- Activities aimed solely or principally at funding the participation of individuals in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses;
- Activities aimed solely or principally at funding individual study or training grants;
- Costs incurred, or activities carried out, before the start date of the grant agreement.
3.3. Eligibility criteria relating to costs
Only “eligible costs” will be covered by the grant awarded. The budget serves both as a cost estimate and as an overall ceiling for “eligible costs”.
3.3.1. Eligible direct costs
Eligible direct costs must meet all of the following criteria:
- They are incurred during the implementation period of the grant carried out by the beneficiary. They must comply with the following technicalities:
(i) The costs relating to supplies must relate to the delivery and installation of equipment during the implementation period;
(ii) The costs set out in the final reports should be paid before the final reports are submitted. In the event of a duly justified cash flow shortfall, these may be paid at a later date, provided that they are mentioned in the final report, together with the estimated date of payment; - They are listed in the budget allocated to the beneficiary;
- They are necessary for the performance of the activities;
- They are identifiable and verifiable, and, in particular, are recorded in the beneficiary’s (or, where applicable, the umbrella organisation’s) accounts and determined in accordance with the accounting standards applicable in the country where the beneficiary (or the umbrella organisation) is established and with its usual cost accounting practices;
- They comply with the provisions of the applicable tax and social security legislation;
- They are reasonable, justified and comply with the principle of sound financial management, in particular as regards economy, efficiency and the award of contracts (for services, works and supplies), for which the procedures put in place by the beneficiary may be applied.
3.3.2. Budgetary rules relating to eligible direct costs
- For all purchases of services and goods exceeding five thousand euros (€5,000) excluding VAT, the beneficiary must run a transparent and impartial competitive tendering process and obtain three (3) quotations. This does not apply to contracts concluded before the start of the Grant Agreement and still running during the implementation period (e.g. rent, connectivity or service contracts), provided that their cost is reasonable and supported by the existing contract. Where security reasons prevent a competitive process, a single quotation may be accepted, subject to a written justification approved in advance by CFI.
- For project grants only: costs of the project coordination and management team must not exceed 30% of the total eligible costs. Editorial, technical and expert staff (e.g. journalists, editors, stringers, translators, technical staff) are not subject to this limit. Where a staff member performs both functions, only the share of their time spent on coordination and management counts towards it. This limit does not apply to core support grants.
- Where the applicant is a network, it may provide financial support (sub-grants) to its member media outlets where this is necessary to achieve the objectives of the grant, provided that:
(i) the sub-grants are described in the Project Presentation Note (Appendix 1) and the budget (Appendix 2), including their objectives, the recipient members, the selection criteria and the amount per recipient;
(ii) the network remains fully responsible towards CFI for the use of the funds, and applies to recipient members the same eligibility rules and reporting obligations as set out in this Call;
(iii) any change to the planned sub-grants is approved in advance by CFI.
Payments to staff, consultants, stringers and suppliers for goods and services are not considered sub-grants.
3.3.3. Eligible indirect costs
Running costs that are identifiable and necessary (e.g. rent, connectivity, registration, legal and umbrella organisation fees) are budgeted as direct costs, on a pro-rata basis where they are shared with other activities.
In addition, for project grants only, other indirect costs may be covered by a flat rate of up to 7% of the total eligible direct costs, without supporting documents, provided that they do not include costs already budgeted under another heading.
Core support grants do not include a flat rate for indirect costs, as the beneficiary’s running costs are already covered as direct costs.
3.3.4. Ineligible costs
The following costs are not eligible and may not be included in the proposed budget submitted:
- Debt and the cost of debt (interest);
- Provisions for potential future losses or liabilities;
- Costs declared by the beneficiary and funded by another action or programme. Applicants receiving funding from other donors, including EU-funded programmes, remain eligible, provided that the costs budgeted under this Call are not covered by that funding. Co-funding is encouraged but not required;
- Purchases of land or buildings;
- Foreign exchange losses;
- Loans to third parties;
- Taxes, including VAT, unless the Beneficiary is able to produce a certificate proving that they do not qualify for an exemption or other exceptions enabling them to reclaim VAT from the relevant tax authority, and only in cases where the VAT payable was not included in the amounts set out in the budget submitted to CFI.
4. APPLICATION FILE
Each applicant must submit an application file containing all the documents and information listed below; failure to do so will result in their exclusion from the CFI selection process:
- Appendix 1: Project Presentation Note: each project must be presented in accordance with the document. Applicants are not required to disclose personal information about individual staff members, such as their ethnic or religious identity;
- Appendix 2: Provisional Project Budget: the provisional budget must be submitted in accordance with the document and must be drawn up in accordance with the provisions of 3.3. Eligibility criteria relating to costs;
- Appendix 3: Application form: it must be dated and signed and must include the applicant’s or umbrella organisation’s legal registration document and bank details, otherwise it will be deemed incomplete.
Handwritten application forms will not be accepted.
Applications must be submitted in English.
Language proficiency is not an evaluation criterion: applications will be assessed on their content only, and applicants may use AI translation tools, provided that the application reflects their own work.
Any application that does not comply with the above requirements will be rejected by CFI, and the applicant will not be given the opportunity to amend it.
An online information session with the Project’s regional advisors will be held in November, before the application deadline, to answer applicants’ questions. The date and connection details will be published on the CFI application platform, and a summary of questions and answers will be shared with all applicants.
Questions may also be submitted in writing in advance, anonymously if preferred, via a form whose link will be published on the CFI application platform together with the session details. Participants may join anonymously and with their camera off.
5. SELECTION OF APPLICATION FILES
Applications will be reviewed and assessed by CFI, with the possible assistance of external assessors. All applications will be assessed in accordance with the steps and criteria set out below.
If, upon examination of the application, it is found that the proposed project does not meet the eligibility criteria set out in this Call for Proposals, the application will be rejected on that ground alone.
5.1. STEP 1: Launch and administrative checks
During the launch and administrative verification stage, the following will be checked:
- Compliance with the deadline and the format for submitting the application. Failing this, the application will be automatically rejected;
- Compliance with all the criteria in the check list set out in the Application Form (Appendix 3). If any of the required information is missing or incorrect, the application may be rejected on that ground alone and will not be considered.
Project proposals that are compliant and complete will be evaluated against the requirements of the Call for Proposals, as well as the relevance and design of the proposed project.
5.2. STEP 2: Evaluation of the proposed project
Project Proposals (Appendix 1) will be awarded an overall mark out of 100 points, broken down according to the evaluation criteria set out below.
The evaluation will also serve to verify compliance with the instructions on how to complete the project proposal form. The evaluation criteria are used to evaluate the quality of applications against the objectives and priorities set out in the Guidelines.
| 1. Relevance of the Project To what extent does the project respond to one or more of the priorities of this Call (safety and protection, legal security in the host country, financial sustainability, editorial and audience development) and to the specific pressures facing exile media from East Africa or Southeast Asia, as identified in the 2026 needs assessments (host-country legal precarity, transnational repression, donor withdrawal)? Does the project take into account gender and the inclusion of minority or marginalised groups, both within the applicant’s team and in the content produced? |
25 |
| 2. Project Design Is the project coherent with the applicant’s actual operating context in exile? Does it realistically account for external risks specific to this setting? Where the applicant relies on an alternative registration arrangement (umbrella organisation), is that arrangement clearly and workably described? |
25 |
| 3. Implementation approach Is the action plan clear, feasible within the given timeframe, and does it include a monitoring approach appropriate to a sensitive/exile context (e.g. not requiring public reporting that could expose the organisation or its sources)? |
15 |
| 4. Sustainability of the Project Does the project credibly strengthen the applicant’s resilience beyond the grant period, financially (e.g. progress toward donor diversification), operationally (e.g. continuity of operations, retention of editorial staff), or in terms of legal/safety protection? |
15 |
| 5. Project Budget Is the budget realistic and proportionate to the activities described, consistent with the type of grant requested and with the eligible cost categories set out in section 3.3? |
20 |
| TOTAL SCORE | 100 |
5.3. STEP 3: Allocation
Applications that have obtained a score higher than 75/100 will be short-listed. The final selection among short-listed applications will be made by a selection committee composed of CFI and MiCT, based on the ranking and on regional balance: at least one grant will be awarded to each region, provided that at least one application from that region is short-listed.
CFI will draw up a reserve list. This list will be used if further funding becomes available during its validity period or if funding is not awarded to any of the selected projects.
Applicants will be informed in writing of CFI’s decision regarding each application.
CFI recognises that exile media operate in difficult and changing conditions. Once the Grant Agreement is signed, beneficiaries may therefore request reasonable adjustments to their activities, budget or timeline, in particular where their security or operating context changes. Such adjustments require CFI’s prior written approval, through an amendment where required, and must be reflected in the beneficiary’s reporting.
They may not change the purpose, the type or the total amount of the grant, or the beneficiary.
Appendices
- Appendix 1: Project Presentation Note
- Appendix 2: Provisional Project Budget
- Appendix 3: Application form
- Narrative and financial report templates.