The Equality Fund, an Ottawa, Canada-based non-profit which describes itself as a “global fund backing local leaders solving the world’s biggest challenges,” has announced its inaugural journalism fellowship for journalists in Global South countries, the Equality Fund Journalism Fellowship, offering media professionals in eligible countries an opportunity to report on local solutions to global crises, with a particular focus on gender.
Launched in partnership with African Women in Media (AWiM) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), the fellowship will select a cohort of up to five journalists from countries eligible for official development assistance (ODA), with fellows expected to report from their own communities and geographical contexts, according to the Fund.
It said the initiative was designed to support powerful, fact-based storytelling that brings locally developed responses to major global challenges into public and policy discussions.
According to the organisation, the fellowship will require each journalist to publish at least one story reporting on local solutions to global crises, with gender as a central focus, with areas identified by the organisers including climate change, gender-based violence, authoritarianism, anti-rights movements, the rollback of sexual and reproductive rights and health, economic injustice, war, and conflict.
Ms Jess Tomlin, Chief Executive Officer of the Fund, said the fellowship would support journalists reporting from their own communities and help bring greater visibility to locally generated solutions, adding “Fact-based reporting can change the world.”
She explained that the programme would support reporting on issues ranging from women farmers and first responders to human rights, democracy, and gender-based violence.
Dr. Yemisi Akinbobola, Chief Executive Officer of AWiM, said her organisation was proud to partner on the fellowship, noting that its work would build on AWiM’s experience in capacity building, research, and advocacy.
She said transformative change in media systems was important to advancing gender equality in Africa and beyond.
Ms Michelle Shephard, journalist and Co-President of CJFE, also said the organisation was pleased to collaborate with the Equality Fund, describing the work of the fellows as particularly important in the current environment.
The fellowship is scheduled to run from January to September 2027, comprising six months of programming followed by an additional three months for fellows to finalise publication of their work.
Each fellow will receive a C$4,000 stipend and up to C$500 in reporting expenses.
The programme is open to full-time and independent freelance journalists, with fellows expected to report on their own communities and geographical areas. The fellowship will include monthly online meetings led by journalists and experts.
The programme identifies climate journalist Nina Lakhani, who has worked with “The Guardian” and “Drilled”, and journalism and ethics professor Kelly Kimball of the City University of New York (CUNY) among those contributing to the programme.
Fellows will also receive safety training from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
An in-person convening is planned as part of the fellowship, although the organisers said the location and timing had yet to be determined. Travel expenses for the convening will be covered.
The fellowship is open to working journalists producing text, digital, video, or audio journalism in ODA-recipient countries and applications are welcome from women, men, and LGBTQI+ people.
In a phased application process, shortlisted applicants will be required to submit a letter of editorial commitment from a news outlet and, in some cases involving self-publishing, the editorial commitment may be substituted with a fact-checking plan.
The fellowship also establishes specific rules on artificial intelligence. AI use is not permitted in preparing the proposal or application, while any use of AI during the journalistic process must be disclosed to the programme and approved in advance.
The Equality Fund said the call for applicants would be launched in several phases during autumn 2026, with the fellowship programme beginning in early 2027.
Further application information is available through the Equality Fund’s application guidelines.
The application deadline is November 8, 2026.
