Unwanted Witness

Unwanted Witness is a Uganda-based civil society organization working at the intersection of technology and human rights. It believes in the positive impact of digital technology on societies, while striving for an open, secure, and inclusive use of technology that contributes to the realization of human rights and good governance. To that end, while digitalization has proven to break societal barriers, it has also been used to exacerbate pre-existing structural discrimination and other harms based on gender, political affiliation, geographical location, and socioeconomic status. As a result, this grant will support Unwanted Witness’ efforts on responsible technology, which works to remedy the harms associated with digitalization, while maximizing the potential of digital technologies to societies within Uganda and beyond. Activities supported by this grant will include a wide variety of approaches, ranging from judicial activism, evidence-based advocacy and research, multistakeholder engagements, community empowerment, and strategic collaboration with youth movements (among others). This grant is part of a cluster of grants under the Evidence-Informed Policymaking strategy to strengthen a field of African institutions working on data governance. The goal of this cluster is to help governments in East and West Africa develop policy frameworks that balance public-good uses of data with data privacy and protection.