Programs
Dd works in 3 primary Theatres of Change:
Communities in Crisis
During crises like earthquakes we’ve worked with real-time data sources to get information directly to responders to save lives. Even amidst crisis, digital technologies can help connect resources to those who most need them, amplify the voices from the ground and allow communities to heal through new kinds of participation and conversation.
Dd was working in Haiti before the devastating earthquake in January, 2010. Our initial literacy project has developed into a program, Women Of Haiti, harnessing technology to address gender-based violence (GBV). Dd is working to support with a coalition of legal advocates, health and psycho-social providers, and Haitian women and girls to create a comprehensive response to the growing epidemic of violence against women. Our approach focuses on innovative uses of technology in three buckets: Data, Mobiles & Media. Learn more here: http://www.slideshare.net/digidem/haiti-slide-deck-16may2012
Transitioning States
During upheavals, there is an opportunity for citizens to come together in new and creative ways to protect one another and develop systems to ensure a more positive future.
Countries like Guatemala and Egypt are trying to transition into being sustainable democracies after decades of dictatorship. We’re leveraging digital technologies to ask people in these countries, “What does democracy meant to you?” and create interactive voting mechanisms for people to communicate with one another about what a collectively-decided future might look like. Dd is also helping to create an open source culture to encourage more infrastructure for these conversations to expand and positively impact the lives of people everywhere.
Repressive Regimes
Even in the most repressive environments, opportunities exist for people to experience freedom of expression.
In countries like Burma/Myanmar and around bordering regions we have implemented a number of projects, including Handheld Human Rights – a systemic approach to addressing digital activism. It comprises security implementation and trainings, interactive manuals and guides, and an online system for visualization and data-collection that community-sources real-time reports and data on human rights abuses and other forms of repression.
Previous Programs
We Are Peace (Sisi ni Amani in Kiswahili) is our peacemapping program whose purpose is to raise awareness of peace efforts within Kenya by mapping peace initiatives across all segments of Kenyan society. The purpose of peacemapping is to connect previously disconnected agents together to empower this arm of civil society before Kenya’s next presidential election. The program has transitioned to local ownership and is now a Kenyan organization.
As a result of the violence that followed Kenya’s December 2007 elections and left over 1,000 dead, Kenya faces its 2012 presidential elections on what many view as shaky ground. Recent reports, notably from the BBC, have shown early signs of an arms buildup in the Rift Valley (a contentious area in Kenya) and Kofi Annan has warned that current divisions in Kenyan society could lead to grievous violence in the upcoming presidential election.
While many individuals and grassroots organizations are mobilizing to promote peace and stability, much of this movement remains fragmented and disconnected. To better empower this critical arm of Kenyan civil society, accurate information is needed to highlight these various actors, making their various efforts known to each other for the purpose of greater, coordinated mobilization.
We Are Peace combines the crowdsourcing of peace initiatives with follow-up interviews to create a comprehensive guide of peace efforts. Following the collection of this information, Sisi ni Amani will hold focus groups between peace initiative leaders with similar interests. Finally, the awareness-raising component of Sisi ni Amani includes the production of eight to twelve short films profiling peace initiatives which will be distributed and broadcasted throughout the country.
Check out the website at SisiNiAmani.org and follow the team on Twitter
