Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) 2023 Without Borders Media Fellowship for South Asia Citizens

The Without Borders Media Fellowship aims to encourage cross-border and hyper-local reporting. It leverages scientific storytelling to draw attention to emerging crises in public health and humanitarian aid. Fellows work on their field-intensive projects by engaging closely with mentors, who are experts and thought leaders in journalism and public health, as well as medical and operations specialists from the MSF movement.

Stories from the heart of crises give a voice to the vulnerable, support medical and humanitarian advocacy, and encourage dialogue on humanitarian values. MSF is looking for journalists, photographers, filmmakers, and newsrooms to work together, build communities of practice, and support humanitarian actors to better understand crises and contexts, while working with compassion.

• Table of Content
• About Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
• MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship
• Aim and Benefits of MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship
• MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship Courses
• Requirements for MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was founded in 1971 in France by a group of doctors and journalists in the wake of war and famine in Biafra, Nigeria. Their aim was to establish an independent organisation that focuses on delivering emergency medicine aid quickly, effectively and impartially. Three hundred volunteers made up the organisation when it was founded: doctors, nurses and other staff, including the 13 founding doctors and journalists. Founders of MSF Dr. Jacques Beres Philippe Bernier Raymond Borel Dr. Jean Cabrol Dr. Marcel Delcourt Dr. Xavier Emman... continue reading

MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship

Aim and Benefits of MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship

The Without Borders Media Fellowship aims to promote continuous reporting and outreach on the intersection of factors affecting public health and humanitarian crises, including planetary health, social class, crime and violence, urban development, access to health resources, diagnosis, and treatment, transportation, city planning, and disparities in healthcare access.

The Without Borders Media Fellowship aims to:

• • Encourage cross-border and hyper-local reporting on health and humanitarian crises.
  • Leverage multimedia storytelling to build public awareness and sensitization.
  • Engage a community of actors interested in emergency response and medical action.
  • Document and highlight critical practice or policy issues in healthcare delivery.

The Fellowship award aims to support media professionals by providing the following:

• • Reporting costs
  • Access to MSF projects
  • Knowledge sharing on MSF’s model of care
  • Mentorship
  • Training/sensitization
  • Resources to produce in-depth, insightful reporting.

Media Fellows who are selected in the MSF program are provided with comprehensive support throughout their journey. This includes mentorship, subject matter sensitization, and training, as well as access to MSF projects and experts. They also receive funding for reporting costs for field visits, based on reasonable and detailed budgets. Most awards range between INR 50,000 to INR 2,00,000, and amounts may vary depending on individual circumstances.

The Fellowship award covers a duration of three months for the project, with some projects requiring further consideration depending on the application and reporting proposal. Fellows are expected to publish their work within three months of receiving the Award.

MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship Courses

• Journalism

Requirements for MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship Qualification

MSF welcomes applications from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and Pakistan.

We are committed to supporting journalists of all nationalities and from diverse backgrounds, including professional reporters, photographers, radio/audio journalists, and television/video journalists working in print, television, online media (including YouTube), as well as freelancers based in the countries above.

Professionals in media with proven expertise in writing about gender, public health, development, public policy, or related topics.

Journalists who work for both English and regional language publications can apply for this fellowship.

The Fellowship accepts applications and reporting proposals on various thematic areas, including but not limited to General Grant (applicants can choose from a range of themes) or the MSF-DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative) Grant for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

The Fellowship welcomes applications and reporting proposals that:

• Advance public understanding of health policy and human-interest stories focusing on health inequity and challenges to accessing healthcare.
• Explore health disparities, their causes, and local, indigenous, or novel solutions.
• Investigate socio-economic and cultural barriers that may restrict public health and well-being.

Interview date, Process and Venue for MSF Without Borders Media Fellowship

• Reporting proposals must be grounded in a significant public health or humanitarian crises, in the countries mentioned above.
• Proposals must align with MSF's work, social mission, and values.
• Current relevance of the story pitch.
• Innovative storytelling that has the potential to bring new insights to an issue.
• A minimum of 3 years of professional experience is required for applicants.
• Former fellows are eligible to apply, priority will be given to first-time applicants.

Last date to apply: 5th June 2023

Fellowship duration: 3 months(July - September 2023)

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Call for applications for the Without Borders Fellowship 2023 is now open.

There are two grant categories available for applicants to choose from: the General Grant, which allows applicants to choose from a range of themes, or the MSF-DNDi Grant on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).

As the selection for the Without Borders Media Fellowship is competitive, we ask applicants to provide:

• Story pitch: Description of the story you seek to pursue during your Fellowship. MSF expects a concrete story pitch.
• Pre-reporting by the applicant on the subject will be of advantage to the application.
• A compelling, well-researched pitch (with references to add context) with a reporting plan will help stand out among dozens of applicants. (500-750 words).
• Travel and dissemination plan: Applicants must share a travel plan that lists out the preferred start and end dates of the fellowship, field visit dates, locations, risks involved (legal and physical), stakeholders involved, etc.
• Three examples (links) of your most relevant stories (to the pitch) published in the last one year.
• A letter of commitment or interest from a media organization(s) that would publish your story(ies) Names and contacts of two professional references.
• CV or Resume.

For more details visit: MSM website.