Call for projects “UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals”
Fuelling Creative Futures
Deadline for submission: 23 February 2026 (23:59 UTC+1)
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launches a call open to governments and public institutions, as well as civil society organizations, to support initiatives aimed at protecting and promoting the status of the artist and artistic freedom.
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.
Learn more about previous projects supported by the Programme here.
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 ORGANIZATIONS: 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.
To find out more about each of the two tracks, including the eligibility criteria, please read the call for projects document carefully.
For more information, please visit the following link:
https://www.unesco.org/creativity/en/articles/call-projects-unesco-asch…