SEED GRANTS: Do you want to use AI to accelerate the impact of your activism?
Are you part of a Human Rights Defending (HRD) organisation in Africa that wants to super-power your work using AI tools and techniques? The Digitalise Youth consortium, through Code for Africa (CfA), is offering five seed grants to civil society organisations (CSOs) based in the Sahel, as well as neighbouring countries in West and East Africa.
Through this seed grant, selected CSOs will produce an MVP or working prototype that effectively addresses critical challenges including, but not limited to, digital rights and freedom of expression, misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, and digital surveillance. Successful applicants will create or scale solutions that directly support their core missions and enhance their ability to operate safely and effectively in challenging digital environments.
Applicants should have a strong commitment to using human-centred solutions. Responsibilities for the selected participants include prototyping agile solutions, scaling existing solutions with AI, optimising performance for real-world use, integrating user feedback, and/or ensuring compliance with regional cybersecurity laws and cultural norms. Priority will be given to organisations with a strong track record of human rights defence, community engagement, and a clear commitment to ethical AI principles.
Grantees will receive support from CfA’s in-house TechLab, DataLab, and AI Sandbox, as well as its design/content teams, along with strategic support from Digitalise Youth partner institutions, ranging from policy advice and democratic governance think tanks to research support.
The programme will work as follows:
The Grant
- The grant will assist HRD organisations in prototyping or scaling AI solutions that directly support their core missions and enhance their ability to operate safely and effectively in challenging digital environments.
- The grant amount for the entire duration of the project is $3,000 (to support the HRD organisation’s technology team or to hire AI expertise).
- Grants will be awarded for six months, with the possibility of extension based on demonstrated progress, impact, and commitment to sustainability.
- Target groups are HRD organisations working in the Sahel region and neighbouring countries, with a specific focus on those operating in restrictive or hostile environments.
Focus Areas.
Analysis & Monitoring Tools
- Develop/adapt/refine AI-powered discourse analysis tools to track civic conversations, hate speech patterns, and restrictions on free expression across digital platforms. Apply these tools to monitor election integrity, advocacy movements, and the spread of disinformation campaigns targeting HRDs and youth.
- Implement lightweight sentiment analysis solutions that can be adapted to different contexts including electoral discourse, gender-based violence, and censorship detection without requiring extensive computational resources.
Verification & Fact-Checking Solutions
- Create accessible AI-driven fact-checking solutions that help smaller organisations verify information, detect manipulated media, and identify misleading content relevant to human rights issues in local contexts.
- Develop practical content verification tools that community members can easily deploy to combat hate speech and political manipulation in low-connectivity environments.
Collaboration & Engagement Solutions
- Design simple, secure AI-powered solutions that enable youth civic actors and HRDs to share information and coordinate activities while maintaining digital safety.
- Create practical digital tools that facilitate grassroots organisation and community mobilisation for human rights defenders working in challenging environments.
Inclusive Access Solutions
- Develop accessible AI tools that bridge the digital divide for women and marginalised communities
Grant Support.
- CfA’s TechLab will provide hands-on guidance and mentorship on AI development, cybersecurity best practices, data privacy, and scalable system design.
- Partner institutions at Digitalise Youth consortium will offer strategic support on ethical AI implementation, human rights considerations, and navigating complex political landscapes.
- Grantees will have the opportunity to collaborate with other HRD organisations, technology experts, and policymakers through the Digitalise Youth project’s extensive network, including the Youth Democracy Cohort, Charter Project Africa, and other DDI initiatives.
- Successful projects will be showcased at regional and global forums, such as RightsCon, the Internet Governance Forum, and the Summit for Democracy, to promote learning, collaboration, and advocacy for digital rights.
Are You Eligible?
- Your organisation must be a registered non-profit or civil society organisation with a mandate to defend human rights in the Sahel region or neighbouring countries.
- You must have a dedicated technology team or demonstrate a clear plan to hire AI expertise to implement the proposed AI solution.
- You must provide evidence of a clear need for AI-powered tools to address specific challenges related to mis/disinformation, hate speech, or digital surveillance that your organisation faces in your human rights work.
- You must commit to ethical AI development and deployment practices, including data privacy, fairness, transparency, and accountability.
- You must demonstrate a commitment to community engagement and participatory design, ensuring that the AI solution is developed and deployed in a way that respects the needs and priorities of the communities you serve.
Eligible candidates are invited to fill this form by 01 May 2025 to join a transformative cohort of innovators addressing the Sahel’s most pressing challenges through ethical AI.
About the project
The Digitalise Youth Project, part of the Digital Democracy Initiative, aims to address the shrinking civic space and rampant disinformation in the Sahel and neighbouring regions by empowering local youth activists and civil society organisations. The project focuses on enhancing digital skills, promoting civic tech solutions, and raising awareness about online political engagement. By bridging the gap between human rights defenders and the tech community, the project equips young activists and media organisations with the knowledge and tools to navigate the digital ecosystem, protect themselves from surveillance, and fight against disinformation. In addition to its capacity-building work, Digitalise Youth’s advocacy efforts seek to promote digital rights at local, regional, and international levels, urging the ratification of the African Union Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection.
About the partners
Code for Africa (CfA)
CfA will give fellows access to support from its openAFRICA data ‘liberation’ team, the commons.AFRICA open source team, the source.AFRICA evidence research team, and a string of wider communities that CfA manages, including the africanDRONE community of civic drone/mapping pioneers, the sensor.AFRICA community that uses remote sensors to monitor air/water/radiation and other environmental information, the PesaCheck fact-checking team that debunks misinformation, the iLAB forensic investigation team that tracks and exposes hate speech or other toxic content, the CivicSignal media monitoring and content analysis team, and the WanaData network of women data scientists/storytellers who liberate and amplify feminist data.
AfricTivistes
AfricTivistes will function as the digital activism catalyst, launching innovation hubs and civic tech events to foster grassroots solutions. It will fund youth developers building tools to counter disinformation and monitor governance accountability. AfricTivistes will leverage its pan-African network to ensure culturally resonant, locally driven advocacy.
European Partnership for Democracy (EPD)
EPD will act as the policy architect, driving digital rights reforms through AU/ECOWAS engagement and global platforms like the UN. It will connect Sahel youth leaders with AU-ECOSOCC to advance the African Charter on Democracy. EPD will integrate civic tech into regional governance frameworks through coalition-building and advocacy.
Canal France International (CFI)
CFI will stand as the media integrity guardian, training Sahel journalists to combat misinformation and online threats. It will equip young creators with ethical storytelling tools and amplify human rights reporting via Francophone media partnerships. CFI will prioritise digital safety for activists in conflict zones like Sudan and Mali.
World Scout Bureau Africa (WOSM)
WOSM will operate as the youth skills accelerator, using Scouting networks to teach digital literacy and AI basics in underserved communities. It will fund grassroots tech projects in Benin and Cameroon, fostering youth leadership in climate and governance. WOSM will deploy mobile training units to bridge urban-rural tech gaps.
Kofi Annan Foundation (KAF)
KAF will emerge as the human rights steward, advancing ethical AI governance aligned with AU standards. It will mentor activists in Ethiopia and Somalia to advocate for digital rights safeguards. KAF will link Sahel partners to global platforms like the UN, ensuring local voices shape international tech policies.