The deadline for this call for application has been closed. 

APWLD is inviting women media professionals across Asia-Pacific region to participate in our second media fellowship programme that aims to strengthen media advocacy on grassroots women’s issues through a feminist and human rights lens. Applicants whose work covers Cambodia, Fiji, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Vanuatu are encouraged to apply.

Selected journalists will be given a stipend of USD 1,000 to cover expenses for research and travel according to workplans co-developed with APWLD. Our fellowship theme this year is on Feminist Development Justice as we wish to strengthen a feminist analysis on development issues in mainstream and alternative media spaces and galvanise public education and support.

The duration of the fellowship will be from March 2019 – August 2019. During this time period women journalists will have an option to produce news articles, features, audio-video content/documentary or digital stories with a feminist lens that highlight the linkages between gender, economic and development issues and its impact on women’s human rights.

APWLD is a regional feminist, membership-driven network with over 235 members from 27 countries Asia Pacific. We are committed to building feminist movements to advance women’s human rights and Development Justice. If you are deeply committed to covering feminist, progressive movements and challenging structural globalised inequalities, please consider applying for this opportunity.

APWLD Programme Officer Wardarina being interviewed before the Tolak Bala ceremony begins during our Feminist Resistance against the World Bank and IMF activity in Bali, Indonesia.

Why Feminist Development Justice?

In the past 30 years one global economic and political system has defined the development model: a system driven by the movement of capital and the belief that “development” and “growth” are synonymous. Such a model has caused rates of inequality to soar by channeling wealth from working people to the rich; and from developing countries to wealthy countries. Just last year in 2017, 82 percent of all wealth created went to the top 1 percent of the world’s wealthiest individuals.

A political economic system that prioritises profit over human development has resulted in a global order in which the extreme wealth of a few individuals (who are mostly men) depends on unstable and often dangerous work by the poor, majority of whom are mostly women, bearing the heaviest burden of informal and precarious work. This deeply inequitable global architecture calls for a transformation, one based on the international principle of solidarity and the obligation to create a social and international order in which the right to development of all persons, especially of rural, indigenous, migrant, urban poor women, women farmers and women workers, can be realised.

It is in this light that APWLD and civil society in the region have advocated for a transformative and redistributive development framework that departs from the currently dominant market-driven development architecture. Feminist Development Justice is a transformative development architecture that aims to reduce inequalities of wealth, power, and resources between countries, between rich and poor, and between men and women. Further, this framework is based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and  people’s right to development; embraces a holistic rights-based approach; is grounded in international human rights obligations and peoples’ sovereignty; and ensures that the human rights principles of universality, equality, non-discrimination, non-retrogression, inclusive participation and decision-making, underpin its policies and practices. Such an approach ensures that the most marginalised both benefit from development and become active agents of change.

With this fellowship, we want to challenge the generally accepted market-driven development architecture in both mainstream and alternative media, setting the stage for Feminist Development Justice as an alternative.

How Will The Fellowship Work?

APWLD will invite selected women journalists to Thailand for a three (3) day capacity building workshop on women’s human rights and feminist development justice (20 – 22 March 2019). This will be followed by a three (3) day Asia Pacific Peoples’ Forum on Sustainable Development (APPFSD) (24 – 26 March 2019), and the three (3) day UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) (27 – 29 March 2019). While the selected fellows are required to fully participate in the first two meetings, the last meeting organised by UNESCAP will be optional depending on the space availability.

At the workshop and the APPFSD, the media fellows will have opportunities to meet women human rights defenders and Feminist Development Justice advocates from Asia Pacific. Based on interactions with grassroots activists and experts, the fellows, in consultation with APWLD, will develop a plan on how to produce critical analysis on women, right to development and feminist development justice.

Fellowship Conditions

  • During the fellowship period, the fellow journalists will be given a stipend of 1,000 USD to cover expenses for research and travel according to workplans co-developed with APWLD.
  • Fellow journalists will be expected to produce three written pieces of 1,000-1,200 words each. Out of the three pieces, one should focus specifically on APWLD members or partners from the country/sub-region the fellow is from, one can cover any other APWLD members or partners, and one should be on the campaign/advocacy priorities of APWLD, e.g. Feminist Development Justice, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), High Level Political Forum (HLPF).
  • If fellow journalists alternatively choose an audio-visual medium, they will produce two pieces of at least five minutes each. Out of the two pieces, at least one should focus specifically on APWLD members or partners and cover one of the campaign/advocacy priorities of APWLD, e.g. Feminist Development Justice, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), High Level Political Forum (HLPF).
  • Fellow journalists can also choose to work across audio-visual media and text mediums. They will produce two pieces out of which, at least one should focus specifically on APWLD members or partners and cover one of the campaign/advocacy priorities of APWLD, e.g. Feminist Development Justice, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), High Level Political Forum (HLPF). There will be some flexibility in length of written text and audio-visuals on a case-by-case basis.
  • Ideally, fellow journalists should submit letters from editors assuring their work will be published.
  • The pieces can be long features, advocacy-focused, data driven, or documentary style.
  • The fellowship partners will receive continuous support from APWLD Secretariat for shaping the articles and analysis.
  • The fellowship partners commit to be in a close, regular communications with APWLD Secretariat.

Selection Criteria

  • The fellowship is open to women media professionals from Asia-Pacific with at least four years of experience.
  • Experience in covering women’s human rights, grassroots movements, economic and development issues will be an added advantage.
  • Demonstrated commitment to the promotion of women’s human rights in her respective country and /or Asia-Pacific.
  • Commitment to feminist movement building.
  • Must be able to travel overseas as required.
  • Proficient in English and a language from the Asia Pacific region.

Timeline

December 2018 – Call for applications

January 2019 – Selection of Applicants

February 2019 – Notification of Successful Applicants

March 2019 – Workshop and co-development of work plans

Until July 2019 – News story production and publication

August 2019 – Evaluation & Reflection

Application

The applicant should submit an expression of interest with the following documents:

  1. A completed application form (click to download)
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. Two work samples of any medium (please provide translation into English if your work is in a regional language)
  4. A letter of endorsement from media organisation if full time employee, or a letter of endorsement from an editor if a freelance journalist
  5. Letter from editor assuring news stories will be published; Optional for freelance journalists

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.