Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, in collaboration with the Open Society Institute Public Health Program’s Health Media Initiative, is now accepting project proposals for the third round of microgrant funding of up to US$5,000 for new media outreach projects focused especially on public health issues involving marginalised populations. Special consideration will be given to proposals from Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucusus.

Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to under-represented communities. A pre-requisite for the competition is that organisations must have their own website or participate in a network website.

The organisation seeks applicants, both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals who:

• Represent voices of communities affected by stigmatised health issues whose stories, viewpoints, and experiences are often marginalised, unheard, or misrepresented in mainstream media. These communities include people living with HIV and AIDS and/or tuberculosis; people with mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities; injecting drug users; sex workers; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual (LGBT) individuals; people in need of palliative care services; and Roma people facing discrimination in healthcare settings.
• Use new, interactive modes of communication to build relationships and establish dialogue on the important advocacy issues of their community.
• Envision and prioritise media and communication strategies to achieve the advocacy goals of their organisation.

Grantees will be announced on June 28 2008 at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest, Hungary.

The deadline for application is June 1 2008.

Click here for more information.


Click here to fill out an application in English. Russian language applications are also welcome.