You are the leaders of social media. People need to know about you and the work you’re doing,” said Osama Manzar, Founder-Director of Digital Empowerment Foundation, addressing the Finalists and other guests at the 5th annual Social Media for Empowerment Awards (SM4E). SM4E 2018 was hosted on May 25th at Eros Hotel in New Delhi.…
Malini Gupta Programme Director RBS Foundation Years ago, when micro finance witnessed a boom, I was a mere foot soldier in the larger war for equality. Our battles were many and our victories few and far between. At one frustration-fraught review meeting, one of our sagacious and pragmatic community leaders had brought us firmly to…
On April 14, 2018, DEF in collaboration with Qualcomm took its SoochnaPreneur initiative to Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh. The Barabanki leg of the initiative was launched amid much celebrations in Saidanpur village, where 25 newly inducted all-women SoochnaPreneurs had gathered in the presence of DEF Founder-Director Osama Manzar, FLO chairperson of Lucknow Chapter Jyotsana…
Soochna Seva, an initiative of DEF and the European Union, is implemented in five backward districts across five Indian states—Barmer (Rajasthan), Guna (Madhya Pradesh), West Champaran (Bihar), Tehri Garhwal (Uttarakhand) and Ranchi (Jharkhand). Initiated in 2014, the project is now in its fifth year of operations. On April 19-20, 2018, an annual review was organised…
Rakhi Kumari is an Internet Saathi from Jamui district of Bihar. As a Saathi, she goes from one house to another every day, enabling more and more women to experience technology, particularly the wonders of a smartphone. However, it’s not an easy job for her either. Firstly, she has to fight the social norms that…
Sanjit Ali Khan hails from Kotulpur district in West Bengal. For the last few months, he’s been working as a volunteer with DEF for its DigiSupport project. DigiSupport, an initiative of DEF and Axis Bank, aims at empowering financially excluded communities to digitally access and consume financial products, services and information through rural digital interventions.…
A collaboration between DEF and Nokia, Smartpur is an initiative that aims to create smart villages in rural India. In these smart villages, the focus is not merely on digital infrastructure but on the resourceful utilisation of digital tools and technology in the daily lives of people. This is achieved through activities across six key…
Prateek Pathak ISOC Mumbai The Internet has had a transformative impact on human life by facilitating collaboration and interaction between individuals across different identities. Whether it is online browsing, reading a research paper, ordering a dress, interacting with friends, editing an image, engaging with peers over a not-for profit cause, availing e-government services or creating…
The International Women’s Day was celebrated with much enthusiasm on March 8 in Alwar city of Rajasthan. The occasion was celebrated at the local Police Adhiveshan Bhawan, which saw a participation from different civil society bodies, government representatives and women from rural and urban parts of the district. Several organisations that work with women had…
