Computers and Technology

Openmarket - We have a mobile and online based trading platform that allows individuals and organisations to find each other and do business. This has wide applications in rural areas as it enables a wider market coverage for rural businesses to gain greater coverage and better pricing.

Smschannel - This is abulk sms gateway allowing organisations and individuals to send sms messages for campaigns, information distribution and trade notices. 

References / Past Projects

Web centrix enables you to use your website, email, sms messaging, electronic catalogues and similar tools to effectively increase awareness about your cause, products and services in an innovative way. Our mobile and web platform allows you to effectively transact, communicate and aquire feedback about your activities.

Our value preposition to you is the ability to give you an effective, affordable and simple internet and mobile presence to increase awareness about your activities. Furthermore, we integrate the best way to aquire and analyse operational intelligence from your website and sms feedback systems.

At the moment, we are exploring ways in which mobile phones can be used in Lebanon to communicate between NGOs and the populations they serve about a range of issues, and especially with regard to safety issues (UXO), civil society initiatives, and first response mechanisms in case of conflict. Our main practice focus, though, is to host workshops in social media, including mobile technologies, for local civil society NGOs. In these workshops, we use case studies to illustrate the benefits and challenges of social media and mobile technologies and encourage participants to explore new applications that are specific to the context of Lebanon. We are a new organization and are very eager to begin connecting with leaders in this field.

References / Past Projects

disobedientMEDIA exists to get the democratizing potential of the internet into the hands of agents of social justice, to teach them how to use it, and to explain why they should. We believe strongly in teaching teachers, journalists and citizen journalists, employees of nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations, and social entrepreneurs in countries challenged by conflict and the lagging development that often results from it. Using the technologies we teach and the principles behind them as metaphors, we also strive to relay the value of a common-good approach to problem solving, which is often lacking in societies fragmented by war and economic inequality.

PAMONet - the Pan African Mobile Activists Network - has a growing membership in ten African countries in East and Southern Africa and in Western Africa. PAMONet member organizations have been using mobile telephony for activism in relation to:

o Gender violence in Democratic Republic of Congo
o Environmental issues and tobacco control in Nigeria
o Monitoring human rights activities in Zambia

References / Past Projects

PAMONet - the Pan African Mobile Activists Network - is a network of civil society and technical experts from across Africa who are using mobile phone technology for social change.

The objectives of the network, as articulated by members:

o To provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences.
o To connect mobile telephony practitioners, developers, projects and products.
o To promote, facilitate and strengthen the use of mobile phones among practitioners and developers in creating positive social change.
o To raise awareness on available resources and the benefits of mobile activism.
o To ensure that interested individuals and organizations know when and how to use mobile technology in creating positive social change.
o To provide a platform for Pan-African solidarity incorporating capacity building, training and fundraising.
o To develop best practices and indicators in the implementation of mobile activism.
o To contribute to regional and continental policy on mobile technology distribution, cost and use.

PAMONet has a steering committee of seven members elected from various African countries and from all regions in Africa. Fahamu-Kenya coordinates the activities of the network from the Fahamu – Kenya office in Nairobi.

The network has a growing membership in ten African countries in East and Southern Africa and in Western Africa. PAMONet member organizations have been using mobile telephony for activism in relation to:

o Gender violence in Democratic Republic of Congo
o Environmental issues and tobacco control in Nigeria
o Monitoring human rights activities in Zambia

We are seeking new members interested in learning and sharing experiences in the use of mobile technologies for social activism. We are interested in organisations and individuals from all African countries, with particular interest in Botswana, Cameroon, Rwanda, Senegal, Egypt, Mali, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Namibia, Gabon, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Malawi, Djibouti and Somalia. To join the network, send an email to pamonet-list-subscribe@fahamu.org

We are using a Nokia N93i phone to capture content that is feeding into Sri Lanka’s first citizen journalism YouTube channel, the Vikalpa YouTube Video Channel. The channel will be formally launched in the near future with more content added online.

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References / Past Projects

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) was formed in the firm belief that there is an urgent need to strengthen institution- and capacity-building for good governance and conflict transformation in Sri Lanka and that non-partisan civil society groups have an important and constructive contribution to make to this process.

The primary role envisaged for the Centre in the field of public policy is a pro-active and interventionary one, aimed at the dissemination and advocacy of policy alternatives for non-violent conflict resolution and democratic governance. Accordingly, the work of the Centre involves a major research component through which the policy alternatives advocated are identified and developed. 

Village Phone: Connecting Technology and Innovation

Access to affordable telecommunications simply does not exist for millions in the developing world. For some, placing a phone call can require traveling over six miles from their homes. This can mean leaving work and losing out on desperately needed income. Cut off from easy access to communications, these communities are at both an enormous economic and social disadvantage.

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References / Past Projects

What We Do: 

Microfinance helps people to escape poverty by giving them collateral-free loans and other financial services to support income-generating businesses. As each loan is repaid, the money is redistributed as loans to others, thereby mulitiplying its impact. We support microfinance programs that enable the poor, mostly women, to lift themselves out of poverty and make better lives for their families. To do this, we partner with a worldwide network of microfinance institutions.

Our work focuses on four key areas. 

1. Supporting microfinance institutions: Our partner microfinance institutions (MFIs) work on the front lines daily, meeting the needs of clients and reaching out to others who can benefit from microfinance. To help them be efficient and effective and increase their outreach, we provide microfinance program support in the form of funding, technical assistance, training and new technology.

2. Harnessing the power of technology: Grameen Foundation's Technology Center is the leader in information and communications technology (ICT) initiatives that are dedicated exclusively to advancing microfinance. To help microfinance reach its full potential, we are driving industry-changing innovations that increase the efficiency of microfinance institutions' operations, create new microbusiness opportunities for the poor, and provide telecommunications access for the world's rural poor.

3. Connecting microfinance institutions with capital markets: Our Capital Markets Group is harnessing the vast resources of local and international capital markets to bring new financial resources to our microfinance institution partners. With more than 400 million poor people cut off from financial services, there is a huge, unmet need for microfinance. To reach them, MFIs need capital beyond the traditional philanthropic support to rapidly expand their operations and increase outreach.

4. Expanding microfinance industry knowledge: New ideas and innovative thinking will drive the expansion and effectiveness of microfinance. Knowledge sharing is an important component of our work. To have the greatest impact on global poverty, we are committed to sharing ideas and innovations with the wider microfinance community. We hope this "open-sourcing" of information will guide other organizations in improving the industry's outreach to the more than one billion people living in abject poverty.