This project focuses on 10 countries where the digital rights situation is most at risk: Bolivia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Kenya, Palestine, Senegal, Somalia, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam. The combined populations of these countries is approximately 282 million, with 127 million active internet users.
There is a lack of investment in organisations in these countries to work against digital security and safety risks.
This project will give our partner organisations the resources to do so. It will support them in raising the voices of the communities they represent to contribute to a more accountable and meaningfully regulated digital ecosystem. It will also focus on women and girls having access and digital literacy to participate in political and social life.
ReCIPE provides trainings, creates tools and resources, and produces awareness campaigns.
ReCIPE supports civil society organisations from the Global Majority in actively participating and leading conversations on digital rights.
Global internet freedom continues to decline, according to the annual studies of human rights online by Freedom House. Authoritarian governments increasingly deploy tools of digital repression to strengthen their hold on power, from online censorship and surveillance to the spread of disinformation and wholesale restrictions on internet access. The misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies has important implications for how people exercise their rights in digital spaces.
People are frequently targeted based on characteristics like race, gender, age, sexuality, ability, ethnicity, tribal affiliation, faith, nationality, and political affiliation; with women (including trans women) being targeted most. In many ways, digital technologies are replicating – and sometimes exacerbating – the inequalities and repression experienced in people’s physical lives.
The question for organisations like Oxfam is not whether to accept or embrace digital technologies and subsequent innovations, but how we will assess and confront their impacts, and what guardrails we will fight for to achieve adequate protections, assurances and accountability for everyone’s rights in a digital age.
The urgency of protecting and promoting rights in the digital age cannot be overlooked, to ensure that technological innovation and change do not overtake our ability to chart a just and equitable future.
Oxfam Ireland represented ReCIPE at the first Ireland IGF, with CEO Jim Clarken speaking on a panel titled spoke on a panel titled "Geopolitics and Internet Governance".
Read our press release about this event here.
Have you ever received a strange email, a suspicious text, or a phone call that just didn’t feel right? Maybe you’ve landed on a website that looked suspicious and made you think twice before clicking anything.
A single click can put your personal data at risk, infect your device with malicious software, or even compromise your online accounts. And the problem is growing. A recent survey by Oxfam partner organisations found that nearly half of respondents across nine countries had faced digital security issues in the past year.
As digital technologies are becoming more involved in our daily lives, digital threats are increasing. While digital threats impact everyone, some groups are far more vulnerable. These groups include journalists, activists, human rights defenders, as well as marginalised and oppressed groups. Oxfam partners’ survey found that 44% of respondents were targeted with online intimidation and threats of violence after engaging in activism or human rights advocacy.
The consequences of such threats can be severe. Digital threats against people in these groups affect their ability to fight injustice, inequality, and poverty, leaving marginalised and oppressed people even more vulnerable. With authoritarian governments increasingly using digital tools to silence and restrict social and civil movements, these risks are more urgent than ever.
Access to technology – and the skills required to safely make use of it - is another major issue. Oxfam partners’ survey highlighted that less than a third (28%) of respondents had received training on digital security and digital rights issues, like personal data protection. Without meaningful access to digital tools or skills, people are effectively shut out from the rest of the digital world, creating a new form of inequality.
Digital inequality refers to the gap between those who benefit from technology, and those who don’t.
To build a safer and more equal digital future, solutions must come from governments, private companies, and civil society working together, while ensuring the voices of those most affected are heard.
Oxfam Ireland launched the ReCIPE (ReCentering the Civic Internet through Partner Engagement) project in 2024 to address these very issues. The project uses collaborative partnership with organisations in 10 countries to help increase resistance to digital threats, improve access to technology, and ensure that the perspectives of those most impacted by digital harm are central to policy discussions.
ReCIPE partner Forum Civil at a workshop they held regarding Senegal government's New Deal for Technology.
Efforts like the ReCIPE project are a crucial step in the right direction, but the challenge of protecting rights in a digital age is far from over. As technology advances, so do digital threats. We must strengthen protections, build safer online spaces, and ensure those facing the greatest risks are at the centre of digital policymaking.
This week, leaders from government, private sector, and civil society will gather at the Ireland Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Dublin to discuss digital policy and its real-world effects. These discussions need to prioritise our human rights and address the issue of digital inequality.
Oxfam Ireland’s CEO Jim Clarken will represent the ReCIPE project at the Ireland IGF while contributing to a panel on geopolitics and internet governance.
To learn more, visit the ReCIPE website.
This blog was originally posted to the Oxfam Ireland website.
ReCIPE partners in Asia actively contributed to this event.