Digital Defenders Partnership (DDP) 2020-2023

As the third year of our current four-year strategy, 2022 saw DDP strongly resemble the organisation that was designed under the strategy. Much of the Field Building effort being complete, DDP oversaw stable work with three regional teams of Digital protection fellows, Project Managers, and Project Officers in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Further growth of DDP (as evidence of benefit of Sida funding inclusion in a larger basket fund) included the recruitment of a Project Manager and Project Officer for Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (EECCA) thanks to new funds from the United States Department of Human Rights and Labor. DDP's progress during the current strategy period can also be seen in the evolution the program and administration of the contribution. The work of DDP has become more decentralized, enabling decision making and planning and implementation all be directed at regional and local levels -instead of from headquarters-. Similarly, the program has become more robust, in both addressing challenges and enabling competencies in a more holistic fashion and be more responsive to the intersectional nature of risks and threats. Specific to 2022, there has been a maturation (and reaping of benefits) of the field building process (i.e. creation, design and operationalisation of teams per regions with aim of distribution of decision-making outward at the same time the implementation of services (and grants) has expanded. Building on the success of the Fleld Building Project, DDP is further expanding the team into the Sahel and Francophone Africa for 2023. Below are some metrics of the 2022 accomplishments: Support to HRDs provided by DDP's Global Partners In 2022, DDP continued our collaboration with our long-term Global Partners Front Line Defenders, Media Defence, and Qurium Media Foundation, with a complimentary and collaborative approach to that of DDP, and operate globally. The activities of each carried with DDP funding are explored in further detail below: Qurium Media Foundation (Based in Sweden, Qurium provides secure hosting, infrastructure and digital forensics, as well security accompaniments trainings and capacity building to HRD organisations in acute need of digital protection): Sida Funds supported QMF in providing help to 35 organisations, 30 of which were actors who make data available for the public. 14 organisations and three individuals received emergency support. Investigative forensics reports developed by QMF during 2022 included a collaborative exploration of a disinformation campaign spreading Russian propaganda in relation to the war in Ukraine; a three-month-long investigation back-tracking DDoS attacks against a Philippine media organisation; and an analysis of the tactics used behind a campaign to discredit an independent journalist from Romania via the publishing of her personal photographs online. Satisfaction with QMFs Virtual Road secure hosting platform was very high, with 94 per cent of users surveyed reporting that hosting services by Quorium has facilitated their ability to continue working safely. Front Line Defenders: DDP supported Digital Protection Coordinators (DPCs). The DPCs offer digital security support to human rights defenders, working in complex, volatile, and high-risk situations that require in-depth knowledge of local contexts and the ability to work in a fast and flexible manner. According to Front Line Defenders' own annual impact study, 98 per cent of HRDs W received support reported that they actively used digital security tools and indicated improve security as a result. 93 per cent indicated that the support provided helped them to sustain the work despite threats. Media Defence (Providing Legal support for HRDs and their organizations, as well as strategic litigation for freedom of expression cases) Support enabled MD to provide emergency legal support to journalists (broadly defined) being subjec legal or judicial harassment, as well as to carry out strategic litigation on digital rights and fret of expression, and provide support to partner organisations globally in order to strengthen capacities and programmes of legal support in defence of civil society. Having had an initial target of five emergency defence cases, during the reporting per Media Defence took on 11 cases in emergency defence of 16 Ournalists and five media outlets. the three criminal cases which closed during the reporting period, two had a successful outcome In the ongoing cases, 81 per cent of the journalists involved continued publishing. 75 per cent of the journalists involved in emergency defence cases have continued to publish after the closure o their case. In addition to these emergency defence cases, DDP funds were mobilised to support six strategic litigation cases including a challenge to the penal code in Botswana, uncovering persecution of the LGBTIQ community and abuse of police powers in Russia; the right to document issues of a public interest and the right to a fair trial in Azerbaijan, and an internet shutdown in Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the nature of strategic litigation - especially the timeframes involved - there are no determinative updates on the impact of these cases as of yet. Support to HRDs provided by DDP's Regional Partners Regional Partnership Funding (RPF), supports organisations and projects with a regional or country-specific focus to implement programmes of activities in support of human rights defenders, journalists, and communities at risk, with a focus on digital security and digital rights from a holistic perspective. The 2021 cohort of 12 regional partnerscarried ou t the majority of work on their projects and/or submitted their final reports in 2022. Incident Emergency Response 288 applications were received during the 2022 calendar year, compared with 396 over 2021, indicating that success in reducing the number of Inappropriate applications. 48 were approved, along with a further four which had been pending at the end of 2021. The 52 approvals matches that of last year and represents a significant increase in DDP's approval-to-applications rate. DDP continued our maintenance and outreach of the Digital First Aid Kit (DFAK), which averaged 665 monthly unique visitors and 1,448 monthly unique pageviews. Furthermore, DDP launched a Spanish-language guide to aid communications in the context of internet shutdowns. Sustainable Protection Support The 2021 cohort of Sustainable Protection Funding (SPF) and Regional Partnership Funding (RPF) awardees completed their projects in 2022 and delivered their reporting, with all indicators being met or exceeding marks. DDP further decentralised decision-making on calls for applications for these grants in 2022, and each region held its own call of its own kind, according to its own priorities. A total of 20 new SPF projects and 10 new RPF projects were approved during 2022. Fifteen new accompaniment processes were begun this year, with the 2021 cohort being brought to a close. Community and Network Support This year, DDP collaborated with members of CiviCERT to develop Tech Care: A step-by-step guide to providing digital support to civil society, and hosted five Community Conversations with feminist helplines. Reports from all but one of Community and Network Funding (CNF) grantees from 2021 were received in 2022, resulting in an array of reached outcomes: - Increased accessibility and sensitivity to disability rights for a feminist helpline in specific S:E Asia coutnries, - production of research on surveillance of indigenous land defenders in Surveillance in the Anthropocene, - training for feminist digital rights activists on offensive security in Latin America, - an in-person; regional rapid responder network (RRN) meeting for EECCA. The final impact reports for the Field Building Project in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa were also developed, yielding useful insights and lessons learned which can be brought to bear on the next step in DDP's growth in 2023.

The Digital Defenders Partnership's overall objective for the coming strategic period is that Human Rights Defenders(HRDs) remain resilient to closing civic space and continue to effectively use the internet and information and communications technology to promote and defend human rights. DDP has formulated three strategic goals that contribute towards acheving the overall objective: 1. Provide timely, flexible and holistic emergency response resources to reduce the impactor risk of digital attacks against human rights defenders; 2. Strengthen awareness and capacities for sustainable and effective responses to digital threats among human rights defenders at risk; 3. Develop, maintain, and support accessible, collaborative, resilient and responsive networks of expertise and support for human rights defenders under digital threat.