UNESCO-Aschberg Programme 2026 for artists and cultural professionals

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Application Deadline: 23 February 2026 (23:59 UTC+1)

Applications are now open for the 2026 UNESCO-Aschberg Programme. 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.

This call for projects aims to support government and civil society-led initiatives that protect and promote the status of the artist andartistic 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.

WHAT KIND OF NEEDS, CHALLENGES AND GAPS CAN THE PROPOSED PROJECTS ADDRESS? The projects proposed could aim to improve the professional, social and economic status of artists and cultural professionals through initiatives related to, for example:

• Training and lifelong learning
• Social security and decent work conditions
• Fair remuneration and adapted taxation conditions
• Mobility of artists and cultural professionals
• Freedom of artistic expression

Requirements

Applicants should be government/public institutions whose mandate is relevant for the advancement of the status of the artist and cultural professionals and artistic freedom, for example:

• National ministries (Culture, Finance, Labour, Tourism, Communication, Social Affairs, etc.)
• National arts councils and specialized committees concerned with arts, cultural and creative industries
• National Parliaments and/or their special thematic commissions.

Financial Support

Track 1

• While technical assistance offered under track 1 is primarily expert-driven, applicants may request up to 30,000 USD in order to support the logistics of the project’s implementation (e.g., logistical organization of meetings/consultations/capacitybuilding activities, funding of communication activities, etc.).
• Applicants are therefore invited to present a preliminary budget for the planned activities, as indicated in the application form.

Track 2

Applicants may request financial support for up to USD 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.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme