We are delighted to announce that the Cultural Protection Fund will continue into 2021
The British Council and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are delighted to announce that the Cultural Protection Fund will continue for another year.
Additional ODA funding awarded for the year 2020-2021 enables the British Council to build upon the success of the Cultural Protection Fund so far, and work with DCMS to prepare for an enhanced fund beyond 2021.
About the Cultural Protection Fund
The Cultural Protection Fund, a partnership between the British Council and the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was established in 2016 to protect heritage at risk in 12 countries in and around the Middle East and North Africa. Since the fund launched, 51 grants have been awarded to protect heritage and provide social and economic opportunities for communities in this region, including Yazidis, nomadic Bedouins and Syrian refugees.
So far over 10,000 people have undertaken activities that increase understanding of, or engagement with, cultural heritage and thousands of new records for threatened heritage sites are being created and monitored across the region. By 2020, over 3,000 people will have received new skills thanks to the fund's initiatives.
The additional funding means the British Council is able to offer grants to new and existing grantees, as well as undertake activity that will support the renewal of the fund beyond 2021.
New grants available
From autumn 2019, three new strands of funding will be made available:
- In preparation for the expansion of the fund into new regions beyond 2021, organisations are invited to submit applications (open until 21 June 2020) to a new Disaster and Climate Change Preparedness in East Africa round. Please note that in order to apply for a grant, you must first have a mandatory conversation with a Cultural Protection Fund Grants Manager, to assess your eligibility to submit an application.
- Existing grantees have been invited to apply to a one-off 'Impact' round to enhance the impact and sustainability of current CPF work to date.
- Organisations have been invited to submit expressions of interest (closed 23 December 2019) for cultural protection projects relating to Libya, Syria and Yemen.
More information on each of the funding strands can be found below: