Implementation of the Project “Strengthening the capacities and skills of Belarusian journalists and media actors in exile” has begun on 1 October 2024 and will continue until 31 December 2025.

Following the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in September 2022 to work with the Belarusian democratic opposition and the establishment of the Contact Group on co-operation with representatives of Belarusian democratic forces and civil society (the Contact Group), two Workshops to support Belarusian journalists in exile were organised during 2023 - in Strasbourg, on 21-22 March 2023 and in Warsaw, on 20-21 November 2023. These activities aimed to address the most urgent and pressing challenges that Belarusian exiled media community is facing.

The key objective of the “Strengthening the capacities and skills of Belarusian journalists and media actors in exile” Project is to address the needs and challenges of Belarusian exiled media community, based on the information collected during the Workshops in 2023.

To reach this objective, the Project will implement a series of capacity-building trainings and seminars addressing various issues raised by Belarusian journalists during the meetings in 2023, support the operations of the most popular opposition media outlets operating in exile via small grants, and will complete the Study aimed to provide valuable insights into the experiences of Belarusian journalists in exile in Council of Europe member States.  

In general, the Project can be described in three main components:

• Component 1:  Building capacity (by means of training sessions/seminars) of exiled Belarusian journalists, strengthening their skills on professional reporting, debunking disinformation and media literacy;
• Component 2: Support to operations of most popular opposition media outlets and media actors operating in exile;
• Component 3: Study aimed at providing valuable insights into the experiences of Belarusian journalists in exile in Council of Europe member States.