International Broadcasting Operations

A1: Funds in the amount of $235,000 for an Interagency Agreement between USAGM and DOS for the Belarus Initiative, and $485,100 for an Interagency Agreement between USAGM and DOS for OES Environmental Training.

B1: USAGM and RFE/RL will use funds to support media freedom and expand access to objective information that counters disinformation and propaganda and promotes democratic values in the Europe and Eurasia region. Funds will be used to enhance the sophistication of its digital content and enable its journalists to conduct in-depth investigative work on Belarus and provide intensive training on open-source investigations and digital forensics, which will allow RFE/RL programming to focus on topics that currently lie hidden in Belarusian government and society. The funding would also provide for contemporary equipment and visuals that will facilitate the conduct and publishing of such investigative work. This support will enable RFE/RL to respond to efforts by authoritarian governments in the Eurasia region to block and control access to reliable information, stifling dissent. The funding will also allow for RFE/RL to capitalize on the growing popularity of podcasting in Eastern Europe to produce a high-quality podcast series for the Belarusian market. Enable RFE/RL to launch a one-time project that highlights the lives of the Belarusian will use the funds to strengthen independent media and promote balanced journalism and accountability; improve quality and quantity of reporting on entrepreneurship, economic reform, education, elections, and health and corruption cases.

B2: USAGM will use the funds to train and mentor a cadre of journalists who will investigate conservation crimes with the aim to build citizen awareness of conservation crimes in key countries; expose links between conservation crimes and concerning foreign influence, corruption, and transnational criminal networks; and empower communities and governments to combat conservation crimes both individually and as they converge with other illegal activities. Funds will also counter China's role in such illicit trade by exposing and disrupting organized criminal networks involved in conservation crimes. China is a major driver of this global problem that is valued at hundreds of billions of dollars annually and associated with other transnational crimes such as drug, arms, human trafficking, and money laundering to strengthen independent media and promote balances journalism and accountability, improve quality and quantity of reporting on entrepreneurship, economic reform, education, elections, and health and corruption cases.