Resilient & Connected: Joint Initiatives Against Disinformation in Eastern Partnership countries
Published: Apr 22, 2026 Reading time: 3 minutes Share: Share an articleStrengthening the resilience of citizens and civil society in the Eastern Partnership to disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) is the goal of Resilient & Connected, the recently-launched 40 month-long project co-funded by the European Union.
Across the Eastern Partnership region (EaP), civil society actors and independent media increasingly operate in environments where information manipulation, disinformation, and political pressure undermine public debate and democratic processes. Strengthening cross-border cooperation, supporting independent journalism, and empowering communities to navigate complex information environments are vital in such contexts.
The Resilient & Connected: Joint initiatives against disinformation project addresses these challenges by supporting civil society actors (CSOs and independent media) in engagement with vulnerable populations via media literacy programmes and providing trusted content creation. Moreover, project strives to enhance civil society actors’ resilience to disinformation-related pressure by building networks and supporting strategic communication, joint advocacy, and research initiatives.
In the framework of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Summit on 2 December 2025, Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos highlighted the importance of strengthening independent media and civic actors in countering disinformation, officially launching this EUR 5 million regional programme.
Participants in the project will benefit from experience and knowledge sharing and the diverse focus of the project partners.
“We plan to support local CSOs and their tailored engagement, since we believe community resilience towards disinformation can be built via increased trust, creation of safe space for dialogue and understanding of people’s information needs,”explains Pavla Stefanova from People in Need.
Project partners will support both established national civil society and grassroots rural- and community-based organisations that bring strong local legitimacy, deep community trust, and perspectives.
Over 1,100 civil society actors will participate in project activities.
“Creators, influencers and digital communicators are essential partners in countering disinformation online. They have the ability to reach young audiences in authentic and creative ways, particularly in spaces where misleading narratives spread quickly”says George Leech, Director of Outreach & Communications at Prague Civil Society Centre.
The project will support independent media and fact-checking organisations to produce analysis on civic space, disinformation, and democracy and community actors.
Through research grants, national working groups and policy dialogues, the project will also support civil society organisations, independent media and local actors across the region to better understand how disinformation and information manipulation affect democratic participation and civic spaces.
“Disinformation and foreign information manipulation cannot be addressed through counter-narratives alone. Strengthening the resilience of democratic institutions, independent media, and civil society is essential so that citizens can access reliable information and participate meaningfully in public debate,”says Ilaria Fevola, Programme Officer at the Netherlands Helsinki Committee.
Activities will primarily take place in EaP region. They will contribute to broader knowledge-sharing across the Eastern Partnership region. The wider public will benefit from increased access to independent journalism, fact-checked information, and rights-based public debate, particularly in contexts where elections and democratic processes are vulnerable to manipulation.
The project is implemented by People in Need, Prague Civil Society Centre and Netherlands Helsinki Committee.
