Digital Defenders Partnership

A strong commitment towards fostering solidarity, connection, cooperation and a sense of community in convening spaces. DDP understands that epistemic violence and injustice are barriers to true collaboration. We value different knowledge, aim to decentre dominant discourses and encourage the inclusion of marginal modes of knowledge production and consumption.

For us, the well-being, autonomy, empowerment and dignity of the people and communities we work for and with are of the utmost importance. In all our activities and engagements, we want to create safe and respectful spaces where people can engage the personal and the political, and feel safe and empowered in doing this.

A commitment to handling all incoming information responsibly and protecting it against inadvertent disclosure to unauthorised parties. In any remote coordination or online initiatives, secure and encrypted channels running on free and open-source software are a priority. Commercial or proprietary tools will be avoided as much as possible, especially if they have a history of violating users’ privacy.

Encompassing individual uniqueness and distinctions within communities and groups, diversity spans attributes such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, and every facet that contributes to one’s identity, values, and experiences.

As a measure of justice, it refers to the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and protection of all people. DDP is committed to a feminist and intersectional approach as the epistemological basis for our analyses and the development of our programmes. Our approach to digital security and the overall protection of human rights defenders is developed through a lens which seeks to make visible the various layers of structural and discursive discrimination based on gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race identity, ethnicity, geography, language, culture, religion, caste, socioeconomic status, employment, age, dis/ability, and neuro(a)typicality, among other things.

Encouraging individuals, organisations and networks to have and take ownership of their own interventions and activities while supporting their strategies and efforts.

The understanding that our programmes are not neutral in the contexts within which they are implemented, which are invariably characterised by injustice and conflict in various forms. Our goal is to prevent or limit unintended negative outcomes through a decolonial approach that, through DDP’s regionalisation, centres and prioritises the knowledge and solutions of the communities we work for and with.

Attitude of curiosity, innovation, reflective, and transparent learning in our individual and collective work. It is a position against the extraction, exploitation, privatisation, control and restriction of resources and knowledge, emphasising the political dimension of making information accessible to the public and of adopting, developing and maintaining free/libre and open-source tools that adapt and align with the evolving needs of the communities utilising them.