Deadline: February 23, 2026
Applications are open for the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals 2025. UNESCO is launching a call for projects under the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals, in line with the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist and the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Generously supported by Norway and reconceptualized in 2021 in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme contributes to address structural vulnerabilities and build resilience among artists and cultural professionals in times of uncertainty and crises.
Objectives
This call for projects aims to support government and civil society-led initiatives that protect and promote the status of the artist and artistic freedom in its broad sense, as recognised by UNESCO – that is, encompassing a bundle of rights protected under international law, including:
- The right to create without censorship or intimidation
- The right to have artistic work supported, distributed, and remunerated
- Artists’ right to freedom of movement
- Artists’ right to freedom of association
- The protection of the social and economic rights of artists
- Everyone’s right to participate in cultural life
To advance these rights, the call for projects offers two tracks:
- TRACK 1 – For Governments and Public Institutions: Technical assistance to revise or design laws, regulations, policies and measures that promote and protect the status of the artist and artistic freedom.
- TRACK 2 – For Civil Society Organisations: Financial assistance for innovative projects that advance the status of the artist and artistic freedom, at the local, national, regional or international level. These may encompass, for example, capacity building, advocacy, monitoring and research, etc.
Funding
Track 1
While technical assistance offered under track 1 is primarily expert-driven, applicants may request up to $30,000 in order to support the logistics of the project’s implementation (e.g., logistical organization of meetings/consultations/capacity building activities, funding of communication activities, etc.).
Track 2
Applicants may request financial support for up to $50,000 to implement their proposed project. This funding can cover costs directly related to project delivery, such as:
- Organizing training sessions, workshops, capacity-building activities
- Developing tools, resources, communication materials
- Conducting advocacy campaigns, research and monitoring activities
- Providing emergency support to artists and cultural professionals and institutions, including relocation, residencies, or safe working space.
- Covering other logistical expenses necessary for the project’s implementation.
Eligibility
Applicants should be local, national, regional or international civil society organizations that operate on a not-for-profit basis.
Applicants may include:
- Non-governmental organizations that promote the status of the artist and artistic freedom, and associations and foundations active in the cultural and creative industries, including cultural and professional associations,
- Networks or unions of artists and cultural professionals,
- Academic institutions and research centres.
To be eligible, applicants must:
- Have at least two (02) years of legal existence (proof of legal registration required);
- Have directly implemented, over the past two years, at least one project in the cultural and creative sector (provide activity reports and financial statements for the past two years, 2023-2024).
Priority will be given to:
- CSOs that have not previously received support under the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme,
- Projects that benefit artists and cultural professionals from developing countries and that respond to UNESCO’s strategic priorities – Africa, gender equality, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), youth, and fostering an inter-sectoral approach.
Application
Submit the application by email to [email protected]. All applicants will receive confirmation of receipt.
For more information, visit UNESCO-Aschberg Programme.
