International donors

 

 

The Thomson Foundation’s mission is to support the development of quality journalism and accessible media to all corners of the world.

In doing this we have worked with partners that have similar aims, including international donors, governments and public bodies.

Explore our projects by the funders we work with, as well as our clients, partners and by location.

 

 

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is another long-term partner and funder. We have worked with the FCDO over many years on projects to promote media freedom and high standards of journalism in the developing world. These include a Media Capacity Building programme to improve the skills of Sudanese journalists, which the Thomson Foundation has delivered in partnership with the British Council. 

European Union

The €5.3m European Neighbourhood Journalism Network project, designed to create a network of journalists from countries bordering the European Union, was one of the biggest media development programmes ever carried out by the EU. Over four years, the Thomson Foundation helped bring together and train nearly 1,000 journalists from 16 countries bordering the union. The foundation's work with the EU continues on other projects, including OPEN Media Hub, Thomson Foundation's biggest ever project, strengthening independent media and professional journalism in 17 of the countries bordering the EU and creating a media-sharing platform.

UN agencies

Our work with the UNDP, UNESCO and UNICEF has seen us deliver communication training and journalism education in a number of different countries. Projects with the UNDP have included media- literacy training for civil society organisations, while work for UNESCO involved developing a training manual to improve reporting on sustainable development. Following the outbreak of bird 'flu in different parts of the world, we also delivered UNICEF-funded crisis communications training for government officials.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works with partner organisations to support positive social change across the world. The Thomson Foundation implemented the Africa Means Business project with the support of the Gates Foundation which aimed to improve the flow of critical information on economic issues to both policy makers and the public. The two-year long project works via a unique collaboration between journalists and economists in Kenya and Ghana to share skills, pool knowledge and deliver more business and economics stories.

British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We have been working with the council on a number of long term projects. One of the most recent has been our ground breaking business journalism programme in Azerbaijan. Each year, around 12 senior journalists from broadcast, online, agencies and print media have been selected to take part in the programme, implemented by Thomson foundation in partnership with the British Council, which sees participants undertake three weeks of multimedia training in Baku before coming to London for a one-week study tour.

Organisation for Security & Cooperation in Europe

Thomson Foundation has worked on a number of projects with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). They include workshops on media ethics and self-regulation for journalists in Uzbekistan and a forum on public security held for broadcast journalists working in the Balkan states that formed part of the former Yugoslavia. The OSCE is formed of 57 countries and addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, national minorities, democratisation, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities.

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

In its latest partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Thomson Foundation is working in sub Saharan Africa to set up a help desk working for Sida staff and project managers working on freedom of expression initiatives in the region. The Swedish Development Cooperation Agency is funded by the Swedish government to create opportunities for people living in poverty and under oppression to improve their living conditions.

 

 

Related projects

 

Building media capacity

This long-term multimedia project is designed to build capacity and raise standards across all media in Sudan

 

OPEN Media Hub

The project seeks to strengthen independent media and professional journalism in 17 countries bordering the EU

 

Africa Means Business

A unique story of economists and journalists sharing skills to help communicate the issues which improve public governance

 

Explore our projects across the globe