Implementing partners of the DDI
Access Now
As a grassroots-to-global organization, Access Now partners with local actors to bring a human rights agenda to the use, development, and governance of digital technologies, and to intervene where technologies adversely impact human rights. Access Now’s project under the DDI aims to strengthen the digital resilience and security of pro-democracy civil society actors and secure more rights-respecting policies and standards safeguarding the use of digital technologies and online space.
This long-term outcome will be achieved by building greater support for civil society and civic space online through global policy and advocacy efforts; sustaining a multi-stakeholder and global network with its summit series, RightsCon; and providing 24/7 free of charge digital security support to civil society and at-risk communities via the 24/7 Digital Security Helpline.
CIVICUS
CIVICUS is a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists which works to strengthen citizen action and civil society worldwide. CIVICUS’ project under the DDI is implementing a number of initiatives, such as developing and implementing a CIVICUS Digital Action Lab that supports diverse groups of local civil society collaborators to strengthen digital literacy and experiment with new digital approaches and activities.
CIVICUS has expanded its Crisis Response Fund to include resiliency grants for digital advocacy and other related resilience initiatives, especially for local civil society actors facing imminent civic space restrictions, struggles, threats, and barriers that prevent them from continuing their work – or to improve information integrity during elections. To read more about CIVICUS’ project under the DDI, click here.
Digital Defenders Partnership
Digital Defenders Partnership (DDP) is an international programme that contributes to strengthening the resilience of human rights defenders by increasing their digital security through holistic, sustainable, decolonial and feminist approaches. DDP works to strengthen and support a more southern-based and localized effort to understand and shape the impact of digital technology on inclusive democracies.
DDP focuses on three intervention areas: Short-term holistic incident emergency response through emergency funding, advice and referrals, and providing tools and services; long-term sustainable protection support through sustainable protection funding, long-term organizational accompaniment and strengthened capacities to respond to global and regional partners; and field-building through facilitation and community building, through community network funding, holistic security trainings and spaces or resources for exchange, dialogue and learning. To read more about these and DDP’s various other projects, click here.
Global Focus
Global Focus is a unifying platform for civil society organisations based in Denmark that are engaged in international development, peacebuilding, humanitarian efforts and the green agenda. Global Focus facilitates joint civil society policy and capacity initiatives and advocates for civil society’s crucial role in policymaking and implementation. Global Focus acts as the secretariat for the Advisory Board of the DDI. Consisting of Majority World civil society representatives with outstanding expertise, the Advisory Board serves to ensure that the DDI programme is relevant, impactful, and rights-based.
Also under the DDI, Global Focus collaborates closely with CIVICUS on the Knowledge Hub, convening a community of civil society actors to share knowledge and learning on the use of digital technologies to strengthen and safeguard civic space. Read more about Global Focus' role in the DDI.
WITNESS
With a thirty-year record of impact at the intersection of video, human rights, and citizen journalism, WITNESS fights to ensure technology works for, not against, human rights. The globally distributed and cross-disciplinary team spans five regions, combining grassroots and systems-level work to support human rights defenders in 130+ countries.
As AI-generated media, abusive power, and mis- and disinformation make it harder for frontline communities to be seen, heard, and believed, WITNESS is strengthening the capacity of human rights defenders in the Global South to safely and effectively use video and technology to document evidence, tell their stories, preserve the truth, and verify what’s real from what’s fake. Simultaneously, WITNESS is working to ensure that emerging technology infrastructure reflects the needs and rights of those most impacted.
