Communications Access and Infrastructure

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.

Alô Cidadão! (Hello Citizen! is a community SMS news program that brings information about jobs, educational and cultural events, and local news to low-income people in Belo Horizonte in southern Brazil. The messages have been overwhelmingly popular -- over 90% of subscribers forward the SMS to family or friends and rely on the text messages for daily information.

References / Past Projects

Read more and watch a video interview on the MobileActive blog.

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.