August, 2025
Editor's Note
This month’s newsletter is a reminder that the story of digital transformation is as much about people as it is about technology. Across rural India, women are breaking barriers and reshaping the narrative of empowerment. For them, a smartphone, a printer, or an internet connection is not just a tool, it is a lifeline, a voice, and a platform for change. Read more
Digital Op-Ed
In rural India, misinformation and stigma around menstruation leave many girls unprepared for their first period, often leading to fear, shame, and school dropouts. The Digital Didi project by the Digital Empowerment Foundation addresses these challenges by using digital tools and community-led programs to spread accurate information, promote safe menstrual practices, and provide access to sustainable products. By combining digital literacy with health education, it helps dismantle generational taboos, improve menstrual health, and advance gender equality.
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Stories from the Ground
Access and Infrastructure
In the quiet lanes of rural Uttar Pradesh, where access to government services and digital knowledge often feels out of reach, a young woman is steadily rewriting the story. Her name is Reena Ji. A BA second-year student with a calm determination in her voice, Reena has become both a Digital Didi and a community 000changemaker—bridging gaps of access, information, and awareness. Reena first connected with the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) in 2022. Read more
In the village of Babudih in Bokaro, Jharkhand, lives a woman whose story is as much about resilience as it is about transformation. Sumitra Bala Devi, was married off in childhood but refused to let circumstances clip her wings. With her husband, a driver, struggling to make ends meet for their two children, Sumitra became the anchor of her family. But her vision stretched beyond the four walls of her home. Read more
Education and Empowerment
In many parts of India, conversations around menstruation remain hushed, hidden behind layers of stigma and taboo. But in a small yet powerful gathering, a group of women is changing this narrative. SlumSoccer, in collaboration with Sport for Good City Delhi and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), organized the Digital Didi Smart Pad Program—a unique initiative that opened up an honest, safe space for women to talk about menstrual health. Read more
In the quiet villages of Assam, digital services were once a distant dream. Residents often had to travel nearly 15 kilometers to access something as basic as a pension form or a ration card application. For many, especially women, the cost, time, and effort involved meant that essential services remained out of reach. Among those affected was Suman Sharma, a homemaker and bookkeeper of her local Self-Help Group (SHG). Read more
Market & Social Enterprises
In the quiet village of Pakhamela in Assam’s Kamrup district, a silent revolution is being stitched together—thread by thread, woman by woman. At its heart is 30-year-old Chayarani Malakar, once a homemaker who thought her life would always be confined to chores and survival. “I knew stitching,” she recalls, “but I didn’t know where to begin, or if anyone would help.” Read more
In the quiet village of Lohagarh in West Bengal’s Birbhum district lives Fatema Khatun—a woman whose quiet determination has stitched together not only her own path to independence, but also new possibilities for other women in her community. Born into a poor family, Fatema’s early years were shaped by scarcity. Her father worked as a daily labourer, her mother managed five children within the walls of a mud-brick home, and education beyond the basics was never an option. Read more
Governance and Citizen Services
In Malibari, a quiet village in Bihdia Jajikona Block of Assam’s Kamrup district, a quiet transformation is taking root. At the center of this change is Sajiya Choudhury, a woman who has made it her mission to connect rural women with the opportunities that government schemes and digital tools have long promised but seldom delivered. Read more
In the industrious town of Golaghat, Assam, one woman’s quiet determination is reshaping how rural women access not just markets, but also the rights and schemes meant for them. Pronita Bora, once a handloom entrepreneur selling her vibrant weaves only to neighbours and passersby, has grown into a digital leader who is helping women step into the formal economy and connect with government support systems that once felt out of reach. Read more
Research and Advocacy
In July 2025, the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), in partnership with the ARISE (Accountability and Responsibility in South’s Ecosystems) Community, formally launched a collective civil society campaign focused on platform accountability. This initiative responds to the growing urgency to address the unchecked power of major tech platforms and their disproportionate harms on communities across the Global South. Anchoring the launch was a collaborative campaign with Point of View (PoV), a long-time ally working at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and digital rights. PoV issued a public call to hold Meta across its platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp accountable for enabling caste-based hate speech, gendered online violence... Read more
From 7–11 July 2025, Geneva became the center of global digital dialogue as the WSIS+20 High-Level Event and the AI for Good Global Summit brought together 11,000 participants from 169 countries. Two decades after the first WSIS, the conversations in Geneva reflected on progress made while confronting the urgent questions of our time: how do we ensure digital transformation remains inclusive, democratic, and equitable? Read more
Oral Bytes
Rural Fact-Checkers in Alwar: Media Information Literacy & Meaningful Digital Access
Empowering Women's Health with Digital Innovation
One Bit Per Person
Reimagining India’s Digital Public Infrastructure for the SDGs | Osama Manzar
In this insightful discussion, Osama Manzar, Founder and Director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation, explores how Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) can play a pivotal role in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While India has made notable progress in building digital systems, a deep divide persists between urban and rural areas, leaving much of rural India with limited access. He highlights the urgent need to make DPI inclusive and accessible to all, ensuring citizens can exercise their rights to healthcare, education, and financial services.
Gram-worthy Dialogues!
Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), supported by the ARISE community, is leading a transregional civil society campaign on platform accountability. This movement calls for urgent action to hold digital platforms responsible for enabling targeted hate, gender-based discrimination, the spread of misinformation, algorithmic bias, and the silencing of marginalised voices. Watch here