Digital Democracy

In February, Dd brought together an unlikely mix of international software developers & designers, Haitian technical students and members of Haitian women’s organization KOFAVIV to host Haiti’s first Hackathon, a three-day event designed to encourage collaboration between these diverse actors in order to build out tools to support KOFAVIV’s efforts to turn the 572 Call [...]

Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Starting March 8, 2013 the KOFAVIV Gender-based Violence Call Center received nearly 2000 calls over the course of a mere 48 hours. Thankfully, the influx of calls was not a result of a spike in violence in Haiti, but rather a response to a campaign launched by Digicel in honor of International Women’s [...]

February 1-3, 2013 –  This weekend, Digital Democracy – along with partners KOFAVIV, ESIH & more – is hosting “From Local Solutions to National Systems,” a Hackathon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We’re thrilled to be convening a talented group of Haitian & international developers, designers and issue areas experts for the first Hackathon FOR Haiti to [...]

Yangon, Myanmar: The last time I was in Myanmar (aka Burma), the country was ruled by a military government. It was fall 2009. Elections were on the horizon, but most people I met were skeptical about what they might yield. Mobile phones and internet access were increasingly popular but relatively hard to come by – [...]

[This post is excerpted from a letter sent Friday, November 2, 2012 via the Dd Newsletter (Sign Up Here!) following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy & includes links below to articles by Emily published in the Huffington Post about our partners in Haiti.] Dear Friends, Over the past weeks, a powerful storm impacted Digital Democracy’s [...]

How are Haitian women organizing to address and prevent rape and sexual violence? How can critical services be extended to survivors across the country? What is the role that technologists, designers & data wizards can play in strengthening the capacity of Haitian technologists & community organizers? On February 1-3, 2013, Digital Democracy is hosting a [...]

“As a small grassroots group, we are not supposed to have access to these kinds of systems,” Jocie Philistin, Program Coordinator for our partner, KOFAVIV, recently told us in Haiti. She continued, “Now, tech is at the core of our organization and allows us to be better at all parts of our work.”  Jocie was [...]

This post was edited on August 15, 2012. We’re excited to share the plans and prospects that lie ahead for Digital Democracy following the Board’s recent meeting in Haiti. The Board has outlined directives for programming in three categories: Direct Implementation, Tool-Building & Local-to-Global Engagement. The plans outlined mark significant growth for Dd. We are [...]

In September of last year Dd launched the first emergency response hotline for rape and sexual violence in Haiti with our local partner KOFAVIV.  As of May 1, we are proud to announce the 572 Emergency Response Hotline is open 24 hours a day. No matter the time of day or night, survivors of gender-based [...]

Deep in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas Mexico, indigenous groups are facing the fight of their lives. Caught between conservation policies and the slow pace of land reform, villagers are fighting to prevent forced evictions from the land where they have lived for generations. If evicted, they face urban slums, poverty, and the necessity of [...]