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These grants are for projects that contribute to the implementation of APC’s strategic outcomes for 2020-2023 at the national level and are meant to strengthen ongoing work of APC members. In their proposals, members should demonstrate how their projects contribute to one or more of these strategic outcomes at the local level.
List of selected projects for 2021
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7amleh - Protecting Palestinian freedom of expression online: Violations database (7or)
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Colnodo - Geographic information systems services for activists
Summaries of selected project grants (2021)
7amleh - Protecting Palestinian freedom of expression online: Violations database (7or)
To address the growing issue of hate speech and targeted attacks on Palestinians online, after many months of dedicated work, 7amleh launched the 7or database – the first open source online platform to monitor, document and follow up on the digital rights violations of Palestinians. The platform has provided a space for Palestinians to report any digital violations they encounter, including account suspension, content takedowns, incitement, sneak campaigns, hacking, gender-based violence, fake news and hate speech.
The platform also contains a visualisation tool that provides real-time data on Palestinian digital rights violations for academics, CSOs, researchers and students. The 7amleh team then follows up on the reports with social media companies and other relevant parties, given that 7amleh is a trusted partner of many of the largest social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter.
7or fills a gap that has always existed in the work of human rights organisations in general and digital rights organisations specifically, which is the ability to access a practical, detailed and organised database of digital rights violations against Palestinians. This is a pressing need for those who work in human and digital rights organisations, and the platform will enable them to improve their advocacy and lobbying of stakeholders.
Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) - Bringing the power of online learning to offline environments
The global COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted learning and knowledge sharing worldwide. It has resulted in a paradigm shift in how learners of all ages, worldwide, can access learning materials. In this unprecedented context, open educational resources represent a crucial means to support the continuation of learning in both formal and informal settings.
ALIN proposes to pilot the Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning (RACHEL) to four schools at the Ng’arua Maarifa Centre in Laikipia West Sub County, Kenya. RACHEL is a portable plug-and-play server that stores educational websites and makes content available over any local (offline) wireless connection. It is a combination of freely available software and content modules that make it easy to bring online education materials into places with limited or no internet access.
Colnodo - Geographic information systems services for activists
Since the beginning of Colnodo, we have been providing organisations with the opportunity to use geographic information systems to georeference their information. Recently we have implemented a platform for project management of geographic information systems with QGIS Desktop and QGIS Server. This system makes it possible to create different projects in the geographic information system, using a single platform.
From this experience we want to implement a map server on the Sustainable Development Network website that allows organisations, activists and other interested parties to put their maps online with the possibility of using tools such as exporting information in spreadsheet formats, filtering by attributes; printing; making measurements; linking with multimedia content; displaying graphics; displaying tables of attributes; sharing with social networks and uploading CSV tables of coordinates, as well as providing a download panel of cartographic data and an interface adaptable to mobile devices and multitemporal data display by days, weeks, months or years.
We also propose the creation of a help desk to support organisations and individuals in the use of the platform for their projects and of video tutorials that will show how the process of publishing maps works. Part of these video tutorials will be used to complement the ICT and Environment course.
Fundación Escuela Latinoamericana de Redes (EsLaRed) - Learning management platform for education using open technologies
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Venezuelan educational system has undertaken to implement educational strategies supported by information and communications technologies (ICTs) that allow the continuity of learning processes.
However, the critical situation in the country due to the socioeconomic crisis, coupled with the pandemic, has affected the development of remote academic activities because of the deficiency of public services (electricity, internet, etc.), the obsolescence of technological platforms, and the digital divide that exists in the society, which prevents inclusion, equity and quality of education at different educational levels. In this context, there is a lack of training plans for teachers in the management and use of and access to digital technologies, as well as access to innovative and integrative platforms in learning management, which guarantee efficient remote educational processes.
This project proposes to develop an innovative technological platform that allows the management of a training plan for teachers for access to and use and management of open technologies for education.
WOUGNET - Strengthening Women’s Livelihoods and Magnifying Resilience to the COVID-19 Emergency by Promoting Effective Use of Digital Technologies in Uganda (SMILE)
The COVID-19 pandemic has quickened the need to close the gender digital divide more than ever as billions of people who remain offline or underconnected are left without access to critical basic health information, education and economic opportunities and the freedom to fully contribute to the governance processes in the country.
In Uganda, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic is occurring at a time when the grassroots women's rights organisations are unprepared and staff are unable to work remotely to full capacity due to a lack of logistical needs such as computers, airtime and internet connectivity and inadequate financial resources to cater for emergencies where a dramatic rise in the number of infections amidst a vaccine shortage led to a nationwide lockdown and roadblocks which have halted the work of human rights defenders.
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), a leading gender and ICT practitioner with over 100 women-led member organisations in Uganda, proposes to use an APC impact grant to not only support their already disrupted delivery of services but to promote a conducive digital environment by supporting staff (women) to access effective and safe internet where there is none or it is unaffordable and use digital technologies to develop their communities and further their rights amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
