Supported projects

ANTANANARIVO - When the news from Beijing reached Madagascar on September 6th, 2018, that a deal of 2.7 billion USD was signed on the country’s “blue economy” with China, people in the second largest island country panicked. Rightfully so. Nobody, including the fishing ministry, had heard of such a ...

LESBOS - Dimitri Van Zeebroeck and Lize Van Dyck join forces for a special film documentary about the migration crisis, more specifically in Lesbos, Greece. In the meantime, they write blog posts and articles for MO*, a Belgian magazine.

DILOVASI - The Toxic Valley project looks into the environmental consequences of industrialisation in Turkey, and reveals a pattern of chemical dumping and polluting that has led to a widespread health crisis in the Kocaeli region, the most heavily industrialised area of the country.

KABUL - Now that the Taliban is constantly threatening with attacks on polling stations and other places, it is fearful to see what the Afghan presidential elections of September 28 will bring. But everyone is convinced that they must continue: “The Taliban cannot stop us anymore. It's too late for ...

ARBIL - In the summer of 2014, IS invaded the Sinjar region in northern Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of residents fled to Iraqi Kurdistan, or to Mount Sinjar, not knowing that help would come days later. Without food or water many died of exhaustion. But IS had come not only to expand the Caliphate ...

BUCHAREST - The need of Italian mafia networks to carry out vast money-laundering operations took them to Romania and Bulgaria. They set up companies that not only succeeded in flying under the radar but also won government contracts. 

PTOLEMAIDA - In Greece, coal is considered "national fuel" and policymakers have always treated it as such. The future of the coal industry, however, is not taken for granted. The price of coal has increased, the industry is operating against EU's environmental and economic policies and its ...

CAPE TOWN - Although cyberspace is not the main platform for the illegal wildlife trade, it provides an anonymous and versatile marketplace in which to buy and sell. It is safe to say that the internet plays a role at some point in an increasing number of wildlife trafficking incidents.

BERLIN - Are online dating apps designed to elicit certain reactions? Why do men not receive enough attention, while women increasingly receive insults and inappropriate messages? Our grantees, Judith Duportail and Nicolas Kayser-Bril, investigated how the design of dating apps influences user ...

BIHAC - Western Bosnia and Herzegovina is a bottleneck for migrants and refugees who are fleeing across the Balkans. Many of them are caught en route to Northern or Western Europe on Slovenian territory, from where they are being systematically handed over to Croatian authorities in the last year ...

GABORONE - In the series "The Flemish story behind heritage in southern Africa", Margot Cassiers investigates what was achieved with the Flemish Community's long-term investment in intangible cultural heritage in southern Africa. "Why should I learn about Aristotle, not about my grandfather?"

TEHERAN - It is now more than a year since the US unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement with Iran. Since then, the Iranian economy has suffered the stiff sanctions, while unemployment and poverty in the country are rising. Whatever the Americans want to achieve with this, their policy ...

ZAGREB - Although women have the legal right to abortion across the vast majority of countries in Europe, women in some east European countries are finding it tougher to terminate pregnancies. Our grantees looked into examples of Croatia, Romania, and Poland.

MOMBASA - Counterfeit and substandard drugs are believed to kill thousands of people annually. The trade of substandard or falsified medicines has grown to a $30 billion black market industry. Experts warn that the number of counterfeit or substandard goods entering Africa is on the rise.

BRUSSELS - The five Flemish universities have made considerable progress in the area of gender equality in recent years. Yet at this rate it would take until 2050 before there is gender balance among academic staff. Only slightly more than one in four professors in Flanders is female - while there ...

BRUSSELS - The 'Black Neighbourhoods' project is a result of the writing residence of the Flemish-Dutch organisation deBuren. While the authors were walking through Paris, they were both attracted to Château Rouge, an African neighbourhood immediately behind Montmartre. The positive sides but also ...

GERAARDSBERGEN - In the hot summer of 1996, the square in front of the Cathedral of Oviedo is full of people saying goodbye to their cycling hero 'El Tarangu'. Jose Manuel Fuente, only 50 years old, is buried. But seven years later, he sits opposite another cycling icon Lucien van Impe, eating ...

ETHIOPIA/UK - Fisseha was born in Eritrea and grew up in Ethiopia. After his father passed away, his uncle takes care of him. Tensions break out in the region and Fisseha and his uncle are no longer safe because of their beliefs.

BRUSSELS - Residues of Chlorpyrifos, a dangerous insecticide, have been found in fruit baskets and samples of human urine across Europe. This large, cross-border investigation unveils its risks for the public. 

BRUSSELS - If you or your mother were born between 1947 and 1977, there is a chance that you will recognize yourself in this story about DES. Maybe your mother or grandmother took DES as a medicine when she was pregnant.

YAOUNDE -  How witchcraft corrodes the African economy and society -  "Under the guise of witchcraft people are tortured, murdered and development money is wasted. But local governments and international aid organisations remain passive," write Alberique Houndjo (Benin), Chief Bison Etahoben ...

FREETOWN - Following BBC's Panorama investigation into secret oil and gas deal corruption between one of City's most controversial businessmen, Frank Timis, and the Senegalese president's brother, Aliou Sall, a team of journalists from Britain and Sierra Leone funded by our Money Trail grant ...

KINSHASHA - In the maternity clinics in Kinshasa, hundreds of mothers and their newborn children are locked up. Weeks, months, sometimes even years. Reason: they cannot pay hospital bills after childbirth. The report "Gasthuis Gevangenis" (Hospital prison) investigates this phenomenon and goes in ...

WINDHOEK - The single greatest obstacle that law enforcement officials have in combatting wildlife crime and related smuggling is the lack of a money trail that can be used as evidence in court to secure convictions against the key organisers of such transactions.

IMIDER - Imider is a very small community, but it has been put on the map by a world record. In the southern Moroccan Atlas Mountains, under a colourful Berber flag, the world's longest sit-in protest is ongoing.

IRAN - The Iranians are caught between two fires today. On the one hand they suffer the American sanctions, on the other hand there are many domestic issues to overcome. During the "Nowruz" period, we investigated this stifling position with various teams across Iran. The story about Nowruz ...

PRISTINA - Twenty years ago, tons of depleted uranium ammunition were dropped on Kosovo. What happened to the soldiers who were stationed there? Why is the weapon still in use, despite all warnings? 

ANTWERP - Documents that Apache and Le Vif were able to look into show how Erik Van der Paal - the protegee of N-VA chairman and mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever - and his Dutch companion Marc Schaling extracted millions of euros from Land Invest for six years. All this time, the project developer ...

BRUSSELS - Across Europe, misinformation campaigns launched online by a handful of people, ahead of the European Union elections in May 2019. The series of articles reveals the most common misinformation techniques and goes behind the scenes to meet those who fight it.

Only when Corien van Zweden lost her left breast to breast cancer did she delve into the biology and meaning of this intimate part of the body. She discovered that there is no other part of the body with such a multi-faceted course of life as the female breast.