Aid on Spreadsheets

Liberia Civil Society and Media Leadership Program (CSML)

A five-year program launched in 2010, Civil Society and Media Leadership Program (CSML) is improving the skills, performance and perceptions of Liberian civil society organizations (CSOs) through training, mentoring, and small grant projects. Simultaneously, the project is working with the Liberian media industry to build capacity and professionalize both individual journalists and media outlets.

Establish legal and regulatory frameworks that protect the freedom of association and assembly and that promote an enabling environment that protects and promotes civil society and citizen participation. This includes but is not limited to ensuring that legal frameworks enable CSOs to form and operate freely, promoting the sustainability of the CSO sector (e.g., philanthropy and tax concessions for CSOs, access to resources, volunteering), and supporting public participation around changes to legal frameworks and their implementation (e.g., public hearings, instructional seminars, and conferences). This aspect also includes strengthening advocacy, networks, grassroots coalitions, and public support for reforms related to the enabling environment for civil society. This does not include funding for activities carried out by civil society related to Rule of Law, Human Rights, or Political Competition, which are captured by areas DR.1.2 Culture of Lawfulness, DR.1.5 Fairness and Access to Justice, and DR.3.3 Political Parties. Strengthen normative-legal-regulatory frameworks that enable free media, open information access and freedoms of expression. Advocate for, support, and protect professional and citizen-generated media subject to harassment, restriction, intimidation, imprisonment and/or closure for reporting on sensitive issues; support self-regulatory mechanisms as well as reforms of state-owned media into private or public service systems. Strengthen advocacy capacity, digital and physical security awareness and response capabilities, and networking for information, media and related organizations to promote, protect and defend Internet freedom, media independence and freedoms of expression; including but not limited to online, national, and regional initiatives.Boost the capacity and sustainability of professional journalism and citizen-generated media through a mix of training, education, mentoring, networking and exchange activities, including but not limited to: content production support as a training mechanism; developing and distributing training materials; and building and/or reforming media-related host country training and higher educational institutions. Support the development of a financially sustainable media sector through organizational and financial management training, advertising sector development, audience research and/or circulation audit capacities, market research, business planning, capital infusion and loans, media industry information exchanges, sponsorships/partnerships and other methods to improve the economic viability of the sector.Establish, develop and/or support radio, newspaper, broadcasting and digital media outlets and/or digital- and multi-media centers. Support broadband access, digital and physical safety and security, and media outlet infrastructure improvements, including equipment and tool provision and maintenance; support restoration/cataloging of archival media materials as appropriate.

Project ID

US-GOV-1-LR-AID-669-A-00-10-00074

Activity status

3 - Completion

Aid type

C01 - Project-type interventions

% to Liberia

100.00

Organisations

Accountable

U.S. Agency for International Development

Extending

U.S. Agency for International Development

Funding

U.S. Agency for International Development

Implementing

International Research and Exchanges Board

CRS code	%
Democratic participation and civil society (15150)	35.59
Unknown (0)	45.05
Legal and judicial development (15130)	4.41
Media and free flow of information (15153)	10.02
Public sector policy and administrative management (15110)	4.93