Programme for Artistic Freedom

This contribution is only open for applications upon invitation by the Swedish Arts Council.

The applying partner must be a non-for-profit legal entity. Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Eligible for support are organisations that work to enhance artistic freedom in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance, ODA, by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee, OECD/DAC, or organisations that work with activities with the main final beneficiaries in, or originating from, countries eligible for ODA by OECD/DAC.

The applying organisation can be registered as a national or international organisation and can be located in ODA-recipient or non-ODA recipient countries. The final main beneficiaries of the work shall be persons living in or originating from countries eligible for ODA.

The grant shall not be made available to -or for the benefit of, persons, groups and/or entities included in the EU sanctions list. This applies to both implementing partners and suppliers of implementing partners that are in any way directly or indirectly financed by the grant.

Your organisation can apply for:

• Core support, or
• Project support

Core support means financial support for the operational and strategic work of the whole organisation, while project support implies financial support for a specific project within the organisation. You can apply for costs that are considered necessary for the implementation of the core activities and/or project during the activity period.

Your organisation and/or project must contribute to one or more of the following objectives of the program:

• Artists' (women, men and non-binary) right to freedom/fair trials and freedom of expression is protected in the event of threats/harassment by state or non-state actors.
• Artists' (women, men and non-binary) right to life and safety is protected in case of threats/harassment by state or non-state actors.
• Increased documented monitoring of artistic freedom globally and strengthened capacity of rights holders to conduct advocacy work which contributes to increased respect, protection, and realisation of the right to artistic freedom.
• Actors working for artistic freedom have access to common networks and forums for collaboration.

The time frame and scope of the second implementation period of the programme is multiannual.

Your application is submitted online, via the Swedish Arts Council’s online service and according to the instructions by the Swedish Arts Council presented on occasion for application.

It will be expected that applications include a project description, a budget, and a risk assessment with risk management. The suggested project/programme shall be gender sensitised.

In addition to the application documents, the following mandatory appendices are requested:

For all applicants:

• License of registration
• Statutes, dated
• Latest annual financial report and audited financial report, signed by board, including auditor's management letter

For core support applicants only:

• The organisation's strategic plan and results framework (or alike)
• The organisation's full budget including income
• The organisation's procurement guidelines if available
• The organisation's anti-corruption policy or guidelines if available
• Any available reviews/audits/appraisals of the organisations work and of the internal system for organisational control (e.g. regarding capacity and routines for financial management and delivery of results)

The Swedish Arts Council may ask for additional information for the assessment and may engage consultants for a review of systems for internal control and financial management.

If an application is submitted after the announced deadline, the Swedish Arts Council will not assess the application, unless otherwise agreed. If an application is incomplete and the applying organisation does not submit additional information in the time period communicated, the Swedish Arts Council cannot assess the application.

The applications are assessed by the team for the Programme for Artistic Freedom at the Swedish Arts Council and an external Consulting Expert Group. If the applicant organisation has previously received support within one programme period and is applying for a subsequent programme period, assessment can be made by the programme team without support from an external Consulting Expert Group.

Each application is assessed individually as well as against other applications in order to assess its contribution to the programme as a whole. The assessment is based on accessible funds for the programme. Decisions on applications will be taken by the Director for International Cooperation at the Swedish Arts Council and are communicated to the applicant via e-mail.

If a member of the programme team or consulting expert group have expressed conflict of interest according to the anti-corruption guidelines of the Programme for Artistic Freedom, they will not participate in the assessment. Conflict of interest will be documented in the grant decision.

The Swedish Arts Council may decide to revise the guidelines for grant assessment.

Grant assessment criteria

The point of departure for assessment of applications is the relevance of the proposed project/programme towards the programme objectives (one or several).

The Swedish Arts Council will be looking at thematic and geographical complementarity in relation to other submitting organisations as well as to the global or regional reach of the organisations submitting concept notes. Gender mainstreaming is an area of relevance in all cooperation initiatives funded by Sida, including this programme.

Other criteria for assessment of applications are

• Effectiveness and cost efficiency – assesses whether the set objectives of the programme/project are likely to be achieved, and whether the implementation strategy is an appropriate and cost-efficient way of achieving the objectives under the prevailing circumstances and given other alternatives.
• Feasibility – assesses if the practical conditions exist for successful implementation of the programme/project, including anti-corruption policy and management. Do the implementing parties have the required capacity, resources and will for successful implementation?
• Sustainability – assesses if a supported development effort maintains its effects at a reasonable level after the cessation of external support (or completion of project/programme) in terms of impact on human, institutional and financial resources. Ownership at impact level (including during planning, implementation and follow-up.)
• Coordination and consultations – assesses strengths and weaknesses in the interaction between the partner and its stakeholders and development partners. Attention to ownership and potential for knowledge exchange and synergies in relation to other applying organisations as well as in the field.
• Risk and risk management - assesses internal or external risks and proposes measures to avoid or reduce such risks.

Priority will be given to organisations working on a regional and global level. Initiatives on the national level can be given priority if they are assessed as particularly relevant to the programme objectives or contribute to standard setting or serve as examples particularly relevant to artistic freedom.

Consideration of the poor people’s perspective and the rights perspective as well as the conflict perspective, gender equality and perspective on environment and climate will be assessed.

If a decision to approve an application has been made, a grant agreement will be signed by the authorised signature of the applicant organisation and the director of international cooperation at the Swedish Arts Council. The decision together with the grant agreement specifies the terms and conditions for the grant. The conditions for core support and project support may vary.

All activities funded by the grant must be conducted in full compliance with the laws and regulations of the country in which the activities occur, as well as any international laws and agreements applicable to SIDA, the Swedish Arts Council and the applicant organisation.

A presentation of programme partners will be published on the Swedish Arts Council’s webpage.

Annual narrative reports and annual audited financial reports are required as well as the submission of annual budgets and work plans. Annual reports, workplans and budgets will be submitted via e-mail to artisticfreedom@artscouncil.se or through the online service.

Dates and conditions for annual reporting as well as for submission of annual budgets and work plans will be stated in the agreement for each organisation. The agreement also specifies general provisions of the agreement including breach of the agreement that may result in the Swedish Arts Council terminating the agreement and requesting funds to be repaid.

The approval of annual work plans and budgets, as well as of annual narrative and financial and audit reports are required for disbursements of funds. Exceptions can occur, and specific conditions for each partner are clearly stated in the individual agreement with the Swedish Arts Council.