Author: Annex Kemanzi

In February 2026, Uganda held elections for Local Councils, setting the stage for a unified five-year governance cycle beginning in May. Local Council leaders play a vital role in mobilising communities for development projects, resolving disputes, representing their sub-counties at higher levels, and serving as a bridge between citizens and government stakeholders. They are essentially citizens’ first point of contact.

Following these elections, many women successfully stepped into leadership positions, preparing to take on their new responsibilities. Yet, for first-time women leaders, the journey is not without challenges. Issues such as low confidence, gender bias, imposter syndrome, balancing family and work, and limited digital skills often hinder their visibility and participation. While support programs exist, they rarely focus on the unique needs of Local Council women leaders. This gap leaves many without the tools and confidence to fully thrive in their roles. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure that women leaders not only take up positions but also meaningfully excel in them.

Even as technology advances, the gender digital divide remains pronounced in countries like Uganda. Cultural beliefs, underdeveloped infrastructure, and low earnings continue to limit women’s access to digital tools, creating unequal opportunities.

To address this gap between women’s growing participation in leadership and their limited ability to engage meaningfully in digital spaces, Pollicy and Vuka Her, under the Her Voice Leads project, organised a peer-to-peer learning and practical training. The program brought together women Local Council leaders from Kasangati Town Council, Nangabo Subcounty, and Wakiso District.

The training adopted a feminist approach that recognised and addressed the systemic barriers limiting women’s full participation in leadership and public life. It focused on building confidence, strengthening digital skills, and equipping women leaders with the knowledge and tools to use online platforms for advocacy, civic engagement, and amplifying their voices in decision-making spaces.

Delivered in Luganda, the participants’ local language, the sessions created an accessible, safe, and inclusive learning environment where women could freely share their experiences, challenge discriminatory norms, and build solidarity with one another. By centring women’s lived realities and experiences, the training fostered collective learning, mutual support, and leadership development. This approach not only increased women’s confidence and digital participation but also strengthened their capacity to claim their space, influence community decisions, and exercise transformative leadership both online and offline.

The training emphasised three key areas: data privacy and protection, misinformation and disinformation, and the effective use of social media platforms to amplify women’s voices.

With practical guidance from the Pollicy team, women leaders learned how to strengthen their digital security. This included setting up strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and adjusting privacy settings on their phones and applications.

Through scenario-based learning, participants explored how misinformation and disinformation can be weaponised against women in public spaces. They practised identifying false information, understanding its impact, and learning strategies to counter it. Using popular apps like WhatsApp and TikTok, they were encouraged to rely only on trusted sources, avoid forwarding clickbait, verify news before sharing, and stay alert to bot-generated content designed to spread harmful narratives. This hands-on approach not only built technical skills but also empowered women leaders to use digital platforms more safely and strategically.

The training also highlighted how social media can be a powerful communication tool for women leaders to influence positive change in their communities. Platforms like WhatsApp, which connect people closely and allow instant communication, were emphasised as spaces where women can amplify their voices beyond physical boundaries.

By actively participating in WhatsApp groups as spaces for mobilisation, collective action, and popular education, women leaders strengthened their ability to influence conversations and shape decisions on political, family, community, and leadership issues. Recognising that digital spaces are increasingly important sites of power and engagement, the training supported women to use these platforms not only to access information but also to amplify their voices, advocate for their rights, and mobilise others around issues affecting their communities. With guidance on using AI tools to craft clear and compelling messages in their local language, many participants expressed newfound confidence to contribute actively to discussions rather than remain silent observers. This increased confidence enabled them to challenge exclusion, share knowledge, build solidarity, and exercise leadership in digital spaces, reinforcing their role as agents of change within their communities.

They also learned how to create and manage their own groups, giving them the ability to build supportive communities, share information, and lead conversations. This practical knowledge transforms social media from a casual tool into a leadership platform, enabling women to strengthen their influence and impact within their communities.

Challenges identified

Many women leaders already carry phones and other digital tools, yet there’s still hesitation in using them to their full advantage. For most, social media is seen mainly as entertainment rather than a powerful platform to amplify their voices and leadership. This mindset creates a gap; the curiosity about exploring digital tools beyond simple phone calls is limited, and opportunities to leverage apps and technology remain untapped. Even with access to devices, many women lack the confidence and skills to take charge and use technology strategically. As such, while many women leaders own mobile phones and have access to digital tools, access alone does not automatically translate into meaningful digital participation or leadership. A key challenge identified during the training was the persistent perception of technology and social media as spaces primarily for entertainment and social interaction rather than tools for civic engagement, community mobilisation, advocacy, and leadership.

Many participants expressed hesitation about using digital platforms beyond basic communication functions such as phone calls and messaging. This was often linked to limited digital confidence, fear of making mistakes in public online spaces, concerns about privacy and security, and uncertainty about how digital tools could support their leadership roles. As a result, opportunities to use technology strategically for community engagement, information sharing, and political participation remain underutilised.

The challenge is further compounded by broader structural barriers that disproportionately affect women. Gender norms often discourage women from speaking publicly, expressing political opinions, or taking up space in decision-making forums, including digital spaces. Women leaders also face the risk of online harassment, misinformation campaigns, and scrutiny that can discourage active participation. Combined with the demands of unpaid care work and family responsibilities, these barriers limit the time, confidence, and resources women can dedicate to strengthening their digital presence and leadership.

Another emerging challenge is the rapid growth of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, which many women leaders have had little opportunity to explore or understand. Without targeted support, there is a risk that women may be left behind as digital tools increasingly shape communication, governance, advocacy, and access to information.

Recommendations

Creating peer learning and mentorship networks among women leaders would help sustain the skills gained through training. Such networks can provide spaces for sharing experiences, troubleshooting challenges, exchanging information, and building solidarity. Learning from fellow women leaders who have successfully used digital platforms can inspire greater participation and innovation.

There is also a need for more training materials and digital resources in local languages. Accessible content enables women leaders to continue learning independently and apply digital skills in ways that are relevant to their communities.

Finally, government institutions, civil society organisations, and development partners should invest in long-term support for women leaders’ digital inclusion. This support should go beyond access to devices and focus on strengthening leadership, confidence, participation, and women’s ability to shape decisions both online and offline.

My Reflections

What excited me most about this engagement was that the women’s curiosity and desire to take up space on digital platforms was clear from the start. Watching women who had previously seen social media as entertainment begin to ask how they could use it for advocacy, for mobilisation, for leadership, that energy carried us through the sessions.

What I am taking away is a stronger conviction around how we design trainings moving forward. When training relies on a single teaching style throughout, participants’ attention dwindles. At Pollicy, we lean into creative learning for exactly this reason, using games, practical exercises, and scenario-based strategies that meet people where they are and break down complex information into something they can actually use and remember.

The women in that room had so much to offer each other, and the moments of peer exchange, of shared laughter, of one woman explaining something to another in her own words, were often where most of the learning happened.

Conclusion

The journey of women leaders stepping into Local Council roles in Uganda highlights both the opportunities and challenges of leadership in today’s digital world. While cultural barriers, limited skills, and the gender digital divide remain real obstacles, the training sessions in Kasangati showed that with the right support, women can transform technology into a powerful leadership tool.

As women leaders continue to bridge the gap between tradition and technology, they remind us that true empowerment comes from knowledge, confidence, and the courage to use every available tool to inspire change. The future of leadership in Uganda, and beyond, will be stronger, safer, and more connected when women are fully equipped to lead in both physical and digital spaces.

Author: Bonnita Nyamwire

Data is often described as the core infrastructure of modern governance. It shapes how governments plan, how services are delivered, priorities are set and whose needs are recognized. Yet, data is never neutral. The systems that collect, analyse and use data are shaped by institutions, norms, power relations and political choices. When these systems ignore gender, they do not simply miss information; they reproduce existing inequalities.

This is the central argument of Gender Data Futures: A Handbook on Transformative Data Governance. The handbook makes a clear case that Africa’s data future must be built on justice, in addition to technical efficiency and digital expansion. Data must ask who is visible, who is left out, who makes decisions about data and who benefits from those decisions.

Across the African continent, governments are adopting digital systems, strengthening data, infrastructure and investing in data-driven approaches to policymaking. These developments hold significant promise that inclusive data can improve planning, strengthen accountability and support more responsive services. Yet when gender biases are embedded in data systems, the result is exclusion reproduced at scale. The Gender Data Futures Handbook, therefore, argues for a shift from gender blind approaches to gender transformative ones that not only recognize inequality but confront the deeper structural and institutional forces that sustain it.

The handbook calls for data governance systems that reflect lived realities, address harmful gender norms, recognize intersectional inequalities and actively challenge the structures that make some groups less visible, less protected and less influential in digital and policy spaces, especially in the African context. The handbook is anchored in continental commitments such as the African Union Data Policy framework, the African Union Gender Policy and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, known as the Maputo protocol. These frameworks already establish that inclusion, equity, women’s leadership and rights-based development are central to Africa’s future. The handbook shows that if data increasingly drives public decision-making, then gender equality must be embedded into the very systems through which data is produced and used.

The handbook further recognizes that transformative change cannot be achieved by governments alone and identifies women’s leadership as central, noting that women remain underrepresented not only in data production but also in the senior decision-making spaces where priorities and rules are set. Gender transformative data governance, therefore, requires investing in women’s networks, institutional support, and pathways for influence so that women shape governance agendas rather than merely respond to them.

When women lack decision-making power in data governance systems, those systems perpetuate bias; biased systems justify continued exclusion; exclusion destabilizes communities; instability becomes the excuse to further centralize power away from women.

Africa’s future cannot be fair, accountable or inclusive if women remain marginal to the systems that shape how data is collected, governed, interpreted and used. Women’s networks are essential to gender transformative data governance because they bring lived experience, political analysis and practical accountability into spaces that have too often been dominated by technical and institutional actors alone. In many contexts, data systems still reflect gender blind assumptions. They frequently undercount women’s realities, erase rural and marginalised voices and fail to capture the layered inequalities that shape access to services, finances, land, health and digital technologies. Women’s networks help correct these gaps. They can push for better questions, more ethical methods, stronger safeguards and governance models that recognise power, context and justice rather than treating data as neutral or detached from social realities.

During the consultative meetings that informed the development of the Gender Data Futures handbook on gender transformative data governance, women leaders and policy makers reflected on what a women’s network could contribute to data governance. Their insights pointed to a more inclusive, contextually grounded and accountable approach to data policy and practices.

Apply a gender lens to data governance: A women’s network can help to ensure that a gender lens is consistently applied to data and data governance. Research and official statistics often reveal significant gender gaps, making it difficult to fully understand women’s realities and experiences. Applying a gender lens helps to reveal these gaps, and data can be used effectively to advance gender justice.

Strengthen gender data disaggregation in data systems: A women’s network can advocate for data that is properly disaggregated across intersecting identities. Participants observed that much of the data currently available remains overly generalized and does not provide the level of detail needed for effective design and implementation. This makes it difficult to respond to the specific needs of women, girls and other marginalized groups.

Ensure data reflects lived realities: A women’s network can help promote data collection processes that reflect what is actually happening on the ground. Participants stressed that data should not leave out women’s realities and lived experiences; instead, these should be deliberately centered from the earliest stages of data collection so that evidence produced is grounded in these experiences to better support responsive policy and programming. Participants highlighted the importance of citizen participation, specifically women and girls, so that their voices are heard and that they are actively involved in data governance processes.

Promote benchmarking and cross-learning: A women’s network can support strategic benchmarking and cross-learning across countries and regions on what works in gender transformative data governance. This would help to generate lessons that can be adapted to different national contexts. It would also strengthen institutional learning, support more policy-informed design, and ensure that data governance reforms are shaped by practical experiences from contexts facing similar social, political, and technological realities.

Advocate for Policy and Legal Reform: A women’s network can push for review and reform of existing data governance laws and frameworks so that they respond to current realities of women, girls and other marginalized groups. Participants observed that many of the existing frameworks were developed at a time when fewer women were far less involved in data governance and technology spaces. Given the increasing awareness of gender issues in data governance and digital technology, legislation must now be updated to reflect the current times and to prevent data futures from deepening existing inequalities.

Push for implementation, not only commitments: The network of women leaders can play a critical role in ensuring that data governance moves beyond the rhetoric into real implementation. Commitments alone are not enough; consistent follow-through is needed through community consultations that leave no one behind.

Overall, gender transformative data governance requires collective power. Women’s networks create the infrastructure for that power by linking activists, researchers, technologists, policy actors, and community leaders across countries and sectors. This matters because data governance is not only about statistics or digital systems, but it’s also about who has a voice, who is visible, who decides and who benefits. Strong women’s networks advocate for legal and policy reforms, challenge extractive data practices, demand accountability from states and private sector actors and ensure that African data futures are shaped by feminist values of equity, dignity, care and inclusion. Their role is especially important at a time when artificial intelligence, digital public infrastructure and platform economies are expanding rapidly across the continent. Without organised women’s leadership in these spaces. Africa risks reproducing old inequalities in new digital forms.

Author: Bridget Nayebare

If anyone ever told you that data can be both emotional and empowering, they were right, and I experienced it first-hand at DataFest Africa 2025. I attended as a participant, very curious and eager to learn, but I left deeply inspired, with a renewed sense of responsibility and belonging to Africa’s digital future.

From the very first day, the atmosphere was full of innovation and creativity, and I found a community. Conversations were not just technical but rather deeply human. We weren’t only talking about algorithms, dashboards, and policies, but also about people, stories, creations, and possibilities.

What struck me most were the discussions around data ownership and youth inclusion. These were not just sessions but calls to action. The conversations on data ownership made me question how much control we truly have over our digital selves. Every time we click, share or sign up on an app, we unknowingly trade pieces and traces of our identity for convenience. It was a wake-up call that, as young Africans, we must not only be users of technology but also creators and owners. True digital empowerment begins when we take charge of where our data goes, how it’s used and what value it creates.

Equally powerful were the sessions on Youth inclusion. It was beautiful to see young people seated alongside innovators, policymakers and data scientists sharing ideas that could shape Africa’s digital future. The energy in those rooms was contagious! Oh yes, I mean it. Everyone seemed to understand that Africa’s youth are not just the future, we are the now. The conversations challenged us to be more innovative and creative, to build solutions that not only solve local challenges but also reflect our identity as Africans. We can only reclaim our data futures if we are brave enough to design and own them.

Another thing I deeply appreciated was how well the breakout sessions were structured. Each participant could choose which sessions to attend based on personal interests, ensuring everyone found something meaningful. That kind of thoughtful organisation made the event feel inclusive and intentional.

It wasn’t just about learning but also about connecting people to the topics that mattered most to them.

Meanwhile, the sessions and two experiences made DataFest Africa 2025 truly unforgettable for me. First, the Data Museum and then the Wellness Room. You simply couldn’t leave the festival without visiting both. The museum was a masterpiece, very artistic, thought-provoking and brilliantly executed. It told the story of how data has evolved, from handwritten paper records and newspapers to the digital systems that shape our present. Walking through it felt like stepping into a time machine. Each installation carried a piece of history, reminding us that data has always been part of human life, and it’s just the medium that has changed. The attention to detail and the creativity behind that space were beyond words. It was a powerful reflection of how far we’ve come and how much more potential lies ahead.

Then there was the Wellness Room. A safe, calm and beautifully curated space. The moment I stepped in, I felt my breath return. After hours of engaging sessions and networking, this room was a sanctuary. The calmness, the games, the healthy teas, the laughter, the soft lighting, it was all so thoughtful. I loved that DataFest Africa prioritized wellbeing just as much as knowledge. It was a reminder that as we explore the complexities of data and technology, we must also care for our own minds and hearts. That balance was something I didn’t know I needed until I experienced it.

As I left the festival, I couldn’t help but think about how important these spaces are for young Africans. DataFest Africa is more than an event, it’s a platform that reminds us that we have the power to define our digital destiny.

My biggest takeaway was that we, the youth, must be active participants in building the systems and platforms that shape our lives. We can be more than just passive consumers. It’s time to innovate, create and lead because we have the potential to.

Leaving DataFest Africa 2025, I carried with me not just knowledge but a sense of purpose. The event reminded me that Africa’s data story is still being written and each of us has a role to play in shaping its next chapter. Our future is digital, yes, I agree, but it’s also deeply human. And it’s up to us, the youth of this continent, to ensure it’s one we own, create and tell with pride.

Author: Hood Lubowa, Civic Engagement and Digital Rights Lead, Oxfam, Uganda

Africa’s life force should be data, because it is from data that a community inspires knowledge, innovation and growth. DataFest Africa 2025 brought a fever, carrying revelatory insights that offered practical prescriptions for Africa’s destinies as it embraces a well-hewed backbone of data in the age of technological advancement. At the event, the exhibition arena, filled with vintage tech, awakened in me overpowering pangs of nostalgia. My eyes riveted on vinyl records, film cameras, cassette players and tapes, old desktop computers and game consoles that not only showed us where we came from but also came as a stimulus for our self-awareness in the digital age, as we knit together the much-needed fabric of data that is judiciously collected, moulded, and disseminated.

Under the theme, “Reclaiming Our Data Futures,” a powerful social conscience was born among participants, and they carried the message beyond themselves to even those who were not within the walls of the event venue. The panel discussions and sessions that were held over the two days of the event never failed to stress the primacy of digital safety, ethics in emerging technologies and data in the future of Africa’s dynamic growth.

As the moderator for the session, “From Dialogue to Action: Closing Policy Gaps on Surveillance in East Africa”, which was hosted by David Iribagiza of Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), and a panel that comprised brilliant minds from Article 19 and FemTech Law Initiative, the panellists lent nuanced perceptions on the tragedies of a surveilled citizenry. They decried the invariable surveillance tendencies of key actors on the African continent, who pay no regard for the privacy of the consumers of digital services in the digital economy, as they hem them in with fear by deploying spyware technologies and enacting oppressive laws that are triggered at the whims of digital gatekeepers. Surveillance, often unseen, has been one of Africa’s leading enemies and a digital rights challenge that is fast growing, and it affects how we live and work online. Throughout the entire discussion, three questions lingered: Who is watching you? Who is listening to you? And who is following you?

It is irrefutable that Africa’s data-driven future also lies in protecting the continent’s most vulnerable groups of people, such as women and girls. Wearing gendered spectacles helps all of us see the problem clearly and know that respecting and protecting media freedoms and rights of activists and women journalists, and ordinary women, move in lockstep with a thriving digital ecosystem. This is because such an ecosystem gives faithful accounts of the plight and triumphs of digital communities and individuals and cares to move toward the notion of equity. It is this notion that offers meaning and purpose to the fight against biased algorithms and other forms of online violence and abuse.

Data is the world’s new mineral, and while it’s being mined, Africa should never forget that just like gold or oil, once this valuable resource is protected and responsibly used, it sets in motion economic, social, and cultural growth and political awakening. At DataFest Africa, participants laced each session with boundless fecundity and reminded the world that Africa is moving boldly toward reclaiming its data futures.

Digital elixir: Recommendations

Literacy: The adage, “Knowledge is power”, is forever immortal, and DataFest Africa, stressed the need for all stakeholders to embark on building capacities of the communities where there is a dearth of knowledge and understanding on themes like digital rights, privacy, data protection, surveillance, online abuse and a myriad of others that enable a healthy digital ecosystem once embraced. Digital literacy initiatives should also be well-tailored and alive to the need for inclusive design and delivery.

Empower communities at risk: Such communities are often marginalized and their stories of culture, language and ways of life altered or not told at all. These commissions or omissions against at-risk communities ultimately lead to them being left behind. Therefore, this is a call to key actors like governments on the African continent to be intentional in reaching out to such communities, and while they do this, they should be transparent and accountable to everyone concerned.

Collaboration and Partnerships: As the digital environment evolves, players should avoid silo-based engagements if they are to register impact and reasonable contribution. As technologies shift, so does knowledge and capacity, so collaboration and partnership come in handy. It is through this approach that Africa can also seek and get answers on accountability and transparency.

The growth and sustainability of Africa’s digital economy is predicated upon technological innovation, respect for digital rights and ethical data extraction and use. DataFest Africa took me on a captivating odyssey of Africa’s data-driven future, and it was there that I saw, touched and talked about all that mattered for Africa’s future.

Author: Judith Namutosi

​The battle for fair and transparent elections in Africa is now fought on the screen, not just at the ballot box.

​This was the urgent reality underscored at the DataFest Africa 2025 session, "A Critical Analysis of Platform Influence on Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in Elections in Africa." The rise of digital platforms has been revolutionary. Yet, this access comes with a dangerous trade-off: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) is not a byproduct of political rivalry but a calculated, systemic strategy to silence and exclude women. My key takeaway from the panel of experts, including voices from Pollicy, ARTICLE 19, and local governance, was a clear diagnosis of the problem and a concise roadmap of five critical steps needed for platform accountability and policy reform.

​The Unwitting Accomplice: How Algorithms Fuel the Abuse

​The session quickly moved beyond individual perpetrators to focus on the systemic role of digital platforms themselves. The critical learning is that platform design, driven by a pursuit of maximum engagement, inadvertently aids and amplifies targeted abuse.

​The Engine of Amplification

​Platform algorithms are engineered to prioritize content that elicits strong emotional reactions, clicks, and shares. Unfortunately, controversial, hateful, and defamatory content, the core components of online GBV, perform exceptionally well under these metrics. The result is that attacks, particularly the non-consensual distribution of intimate images or coordinated defamation campaigns, skyrocket across the digital landscape at a speed no traditional campaign could match.

“As the data from Pollicy’s ‘Amplified Abuse’ report on the 2021 Uganda General Elections revealed, the violence women face online is fundamentally gendered. The study found that while both men and women experienced abuse, eighteen percent (18%) of the social media accounts monitored belonging to women experienced sexual violence, compared to just eight percent (8%) of those belonging to men. This evidence shows that greater online activity is tragically linked with higher levels of online violence for women, proving that digital spaces are disproportionately weaponized to silence female political voices.” — Brenda Namata, Program Manager at Pollicy noted.

​This is starkly illustrated by the landmark case of former Ugandan MP Sylvia Rwabwogo. Her experience with relentless digital stalking and harassment led to a successful legal prosecution. Yet, her courageous decision was met with immediate, widespread public backlash and a campaign of online condemnation that essentially blamed her for reporting the abuse. The case proves that even when the law is enforced, the cultural expectation that women must endure online intrusion remains the primary barrier to digital safety, forcing many women to self-censor or withdraw completely.

The Failure of Contextual Moderation

​A second crucial factor identified by experts like Angela Minayo of ARTICLE 19 East Africa is the cultural blindness inherent in many global content moderation systems. These systems are often trained on limited datasets, causing them to miss nuanced, locally specific hate speech, coded language, or derogatory cultural references used to perpetrate GBV in various African nations. This failure to adequately moderate regional content leaves women vulnerable and allows sophisticated attackers to bypass filters easily.

​The collective impact is clear: the window for intervention is agonizingly narrow. The damage from a viral smear campaign is often done within the first 48 hours. By the time a platform’s reactive moderation system acts, the woman politician has already faced withdrawal, self-censorship, or even resigned from the race. This digital exclusion constitutes a profound loss of diverse voices and erodes the health of African democracy.

Five Ways to Hold Platforms Accountable

​The discussion, drawing on expertise from grassroots organizations to local government, provided clear steps for change. Listening to Division Mayor MacLean Kamusiime speak about the practical difficulties of governance under threat, it was clear that policy cannot remain theoretical — it must translate into enforceable, real-world protection for women. Furthermore, as David Iribagiza of WOUGNET emphasized, digital tools will only amplify women’s political voices if women are part of designing, using, and governing them.

1. Demand Gender-Sensitive Contextual Moderation

​Platforms must heed calls from organizations like ARTICLE 19 East Africa to adopt an intersectional, gendered approach to investigations. Content moderation teams must be multilingual and include staff with genuine African cultural and political context expertise to catch nuanced, coded hate speech, making a shift to Safety-by-Design paramount.

​2. Enact Digital Abuse-Specific Legislation

​African governments must urgently develop and enforce Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWP)-specific legislation that explicitly includes severe forms of online and digitally facilitated violence, such as the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. This aligns with frameworks like the African Commission’s Resolution 522 on the Protection of Women Against Digital Violence.

​3. Demand Public, Granular Transparency Reports

​As multiple experts asserted, platform accountability is essential. Platforms must be mandated to issue regular, public transparency reports detailing the volume of GBV content detected, removed, or escalated, broken down by language, country, and the speed of the response. This data is critical for advocates and regulators to measure platform accountability effectively.

​4. Close the Justice Gap: Fund Specialized Training

​As Judy Karioko of IREX highlighted, the law must be enforceable. Governments must fund specialist, trauma-informed training for law enforcement, the judiciary, and electoral bodies on how to handle online GBV cases efficiently and sensitively, moving beyond simple ‘defamation’ charges to recognize the political and gendered nature of the harm.

​5. Integrate Digital Security into Electoral Protocols

​The perspective from local governance stressed that electoral bodies must integrate digital security and TFGBV mitigation directly into election monitoring and candidate protection protocols. When women are driven offline, it is fundamentally a governance failure.

Reclaiming Digital Democracy

​DataFest Africa 2025 was a crucial platform for diagnosing the rot at the foundation of our digital democracies. We learned that the battle for fair and transparent elections in Africa is increasingly being fought on the screen, not just at the ballot box.

​The call to action is: silence is complicity.

We must demand that technology platforms fulfil their responsibility to protect users, especially women in political office. We must also push our governments and electoral bodies to create a comprehensive legal environment that recognizes digital abuse as a severe threat to democracy. By implementing these actionable learnings and recommendations, we can ensure the digital space is a realm for genuine engagement, not exclusion, thereby actively Reclaiming Our Data Futures.

Author: Gaaba Lakel Maria

Last year, I had the privilege of co-leading a community dialogue at DataFestAfrica 2025 on one of the most pressing issues shaping Africa’s digital future, the AfricanCommission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) Resolution 620, which focuses on realizing the promise of data for human rights and sustainable development. The session was hosted by
the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) as part of the broader continental consultations led by the ACHPR’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.

In today’s world, data truly is the new gold. It drives policy decisions, powers innovation, and increasingly determines who gets access to justice, resources, and opportunities. Yet as Africa’s data ecosystem expands, a critical question remains: Who owns, controls, and benefits from
our data?

Extending Access to Information into the Data Age

Resolution 620 builds on Africa’s strong legacy of promoting freedom of expression and access to information (ATI). It extends these principles into the digital era, recognizing that equitable access to data, including statistics, datasets, and research is essential for inclusive development, transparency, and accountability.

The Resolution reaffirms that states must ensure data is collected, managed, and shared in ways that respect privacy, equity, and human dignity. It also mandates the Special Rapporteur to lead a continental consultation to develop normative standards for data use and access and our session at DataFest Africa 2025 formed part of that ongoing dialogue.

The State of Africa’s Data Landscape

Our discussion began with a reflection on some of the statistics presented at the festival, taking an honest look at the continent’s current data landscape. A few insights stood out:

• Around 60% of datasets are hosted by international organizations;
• About 25% are managed by government-led portals;
• Roughly 15% come from community or university-based repositories;
• More than 40% of these are Pan-African datasets addressing continent-wide challenges, while an increasing number of country-specific datasets are fueling local innovations and community-driven solutions.

It was encouraging to see an expanding network of data hubs, with South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda leading the way. These countries are investing not only in infrastructure, but also in communities of practice that value openness, ethics, and rights-based approaches to data.

From Principles to Practice

We situated our discussion within the broader African data ecosystem, acknowledging that while digital infrastructure and data hubs are growing, questions of ownership, access, and accountability remain unresolved. Participants reflected on the dual nature of data as both a tool for empowerment and a potential source of inequality.

Balancing Openness and Protection

A recurring theme was that access to data should be the rule, not the exception, yet it must coexist with strong privacy safeguards. Participants emphasized that data held by public institutions and even by private entities where there is an overriding public interest should be accessible by default, consistent with the principle of maximum disclosure.

However, this openness must be grounded in ethical standards, accountability mechanisms, and the right to rectification and anonymity for data subjects. We also discussed the growing influence of big tech companies, highlighting the need for Africa-centric frameworks to ensure data serves the public interest rather than private exploitation.

A Shared Commitment to Ethical Data Futures

Perhaps the most powerful moment came when participants reflected on their own roles as policymakers, data scientists, journalists, and civil society advocates in ensuring that data collection and use genuinely serve communities rather than control them.

For me, this dialogue reaffirmed that advancing human rights in the data age isn’t just about technology it’s about trust. Ensuring transparency, inclusion, and ethical use of data is not merely a technical challenge; it is a human rights commitment that will determine whether data serves people and communities for generations to come.

Looking Ahead

As the ACHPR’s consultations continue, Resolution 620 offers a timely opportunity for governments, private sector actors, and civil society to align efforts toward ethical, transparent, and people-centered data governance. The DataFest Africa community has a unique role to play in modeling openness, collaboration, and accountability in practice.

We’re continuing the conversation beyond the festival. If you attended DataFest Africa 2025 and would like to contribute recommendations to ACHPR’s upcoming Guidelines on Data Governance, your input is most welcome. Because when data works for everyone, it drives not just innovation but justice.

Authors: Njiki Djemi, Kamogelo Makhoba & Mwikali Muoka

At Pollicy, we believe in the power of data and technology to advance social justice, strengthen civic participation, and amplify the voices of communities across Africa and beyond. Now in its eighth year, the Pollicy Fellowship sits at the core of this mission, offering a space for emerging practitioners to critically engage with civic technology while applying their skills to real-world challenges. Through a blend of learning, collaboration, and hands-on practice, fellows are supported to explore how technology can be shaped in the public interest.

We are pleased to introduce the 2025/2026 Pollicy Fellowship cohort working across the Grants and Growth, Francophone Community Engagement, and Gaming. From October 2025 to June 2026, these fellows brought and still are bringing curiosity, creativity, and a strong commitment to impact into their work, contributing meaningfully to Pollicy’s programmes while developing independent projects rooted in their contexts and interests.

In the reflections that follow, they share insights from their fellowship journey so far.

Mwikali Muoka, Grants and Growth Fellow, Kenya

Mwikali is a human rights and development professional passionate about addressing the systemic challenges women face. Her drive is deeply personal, grounded in the belief that there is not much she knows to be, but to be a woman she has known and will know all her life. As a Grants and Growth Fellow, she has been exposed to the world of funding and partnerships, a crucial yet often invisible function of organisations. This experience has deepened her understanding of how funding decisions shape what work is possible, whose voices are prioritised, how feminist values are safeguarded as organisations grow, and what sustainable futures can look like. As life inevitably evolves, Mwikali is committed to advancing women’s rights and feminist organising throughout her career.

1. In one word, how would you describe your fellowship experience: Heightening

2. Tell us more about your fellowship project: My fellowship project examines why FemTech remains systematically underfunded and argues for reframing it as essential digital infrastructure that supports women’s health, safety, economic participation, and daily labour, not just reproductive care. It analyzes current funding models. Data practices and power dynamics in development and technology ecosystems exclude women-centred and women-led innovation, particularly in fragile contexts. It proposes more equitable, gender-responsive funding frameworks to enable scalable, inclusive digital futures.

3. What’s one thing you didn’t expect to learn when you joined the fellowship? I didn’t expect to learn how intentional and values-driven organisational culture can be in practice. Seeing how feminist principles guided every decision at Pollicy gave me a new perspective on what effective, principled collaboration looks like.

4. What’s one thing this fellowship has taught you? One thing this fellowship has taught me is the value of taking action. I’ve learned that it’s better to move forward with your work than to overthink it, recognising that good work doesn’t need to be perfect right away, and progress comes from momentum.

5. What moment during the fellowship made things “click” for you? During DataFest Africa 2025, barely a month in, the experience felt like a full immersion into Pollicy’s way of working, collaborative, intentional, and values-led. Seeing how ideas moved from planning to execution and how feminist principles were centred in practice, reaffirmed that this was the right place for me to learn and grow.

6. If you had to explain this fellowship to a friend in one sentence, what would you say? It’s a positive, pivotal turning point in my career.

Njiki Djemi: Francophone Community Engagement Fellow | Cameroon

Njiki Djemi is an epidemiologist and policy analyst working at the intersection of technology, data rights, public health, and gender. Her work focuses on designing gender-responsive digital systems that protect women’s data while advancing safe and equitable access to reproductive health and rights.

As Pollicy’s Francophone Community Engagement Fellow, she works at the frontline with partners in Côte d’Ivoire, supporting the implementation of the Vote Women project to advance women’s political participation. She also conducts research in Cameroon on the data rights of women using FemTech applications, examining consent, privacy, and governance of sensitive reproductive health data. She hopes to expand Pollicy’s work across Francophone Africa in pursuit of a more inclusive, safe, and empowering internet for all.

1. In one word, how would you describe your fellowship experience: Expansive
2. Tell us more about your fellowship project: My fellowship research examines awareness and governance of women’s reproductive health data shared through FemTech in Francophone Africa, with Yaoundé as a case study. The project contributes to understanding transnational data governance and the protection of women’s digital rights, and will culminate in a policy brief recommending actions to align stakeholders’ efforts and harmonise policies that protect women.
3. What’s one thing you didn’t expect to learn when you joined the fellowship? I didn’t expect to learn within my time at Pollicy is that trust can be an operational strategy. Having autonomy and space to take initiative is a deliberate way of building ownership, accountability, and leadership.
4. What’s one thing this fellowship has taught you? This fellowship has taught me is that people-centred policy work can be rigorous without losing its humanity.
5. What moment during the fellowship made things “click” for you? The ‘click’ moment for me happened when I realised my efficiency was being trusted and not tested.
6. If you had to explain this fellowship to a friend in one sentence, what would you say? As someone with a diverse background, I’d say my Pollicy Fellowship is a rare mix of art, science, and technology deployed together in one place… and it’s fantastic.

Kamogelo Makhoba, Games Design Fellow, South Africa

Kamogelo Makhoba is a game designer, game writer, and creative technologist whose work centres on African storytelling through games and interactive media. As the Games Design Fellow, she explores how games and immersive media can be used to reimagine how people understand, engage with, and experience data.

Through her fellowship, Kamo has reimagined how data is consumed by translating complex digital safety and data concepts into accessible, people-centred interactive experiences. Her work at Pollicy uses games as a tool to humanise data, shifting it away from abstraction and toward lived experience, emotion, and everyday relevance. She prioritises accessibility, playfulness, and care, designing games and interactive media that are intuitive, engaging, and genuinely enjoyable to interact with. Her goal is to create people-centred, accessible, and fun games that contribute to Pollicy`s vision of building a safe and joyful internet.

1. In one word, how would you describe your fellowship experience: Transformative

2. Tell us more about your fellowship project: Fun, interactive and cozy is what my fellowship project is in a nutshell. It is an educational game that invites players to learn about data in an approachable, engaging way, and I can’t wait for you to play it.

3. What’s one thing you didn’t expect to learn when you joined the fellowship? As the Games Design fellow, it has to be data science/machine learning. While gamifying the Data Ladies teaching and learning experience, I explored these tools in ways I hadn’t before. Even though the concept wasn’t fully tested, the process of learning and experimenting with it was fun and rewarding.

4. What’s one thing this fellowship has taught you? Understanding the power of slowing down.

5. What moment during the fellowship made things “click” for you? Tasting fried plantain…but honestly, it was at DataFest Africa 2025, when school learners were interested, curious and interacting with my first project REDATA, a motion projection that reimagines data. It felt like stepping into an Afrofeminist future. DataFest Africa as a whole was its own moment, and being there made my fellowship come alive, especially that early in the fellowship.

6. If you had to explain this fellowship to a friend in one sentence, what would you say? The Pollicy fellowship is a safe space to learn, create and make an impact while doing what you love with colleagues that feel like family and help you transform into your best self.

Ready to become the next Pollicy Fellow?

The 2025/2026 Pollicy Fellows reflect the many ways change is made; through creative play and storytelling, through community-led engagement and policy work, and through the often-unseen systems that sustain impact. Together, they demonstrate how data, technology, and feminist values can be applied across disciplines to imagine and build more just digital futures.

We are so proud to welcome them into the Pollicy community and inspired by the impact their work will continue to spark.

Each year, we invite a new cohort to join the Pollicy Fellowship. Keep in touch, stay informed and apply once the call is out!

Author: Wanjiku Maina, Pollicy

On a Saturday morning in Nairobi, Kenya, a domestic worker is scrolling through her WhatsApp messages and pauses at a string of alerts in her workers’ group chats detailing warnings about online scams and fake job offers. Across the city, a tech worker is updating their LinkedIn profile, refining skills and scanning for new opportunities. Not too far away, an agricultural worker goes live on TikTok, showing customers the day’s fresh produce and taking orders in real time. This is the power of digital platforms.

For many workers in Kenya, digital tools and platforms have become ingrained in their day-to-day lives, shaping how they search for work, build networks and improve their livelihoods. Platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook being largely dominant in Kenya, domestic workers use them to scroll through job adverts, share their experiences and stay connected to peers. TikTok and Instagram have become spaces to showcase skills, watch tutorials, learn new skills and even conduct research.

Where opportunity meets risk

As the saying goes, every rose has its thorns, and these same digital platforms that offer promise and opportunity also expose workers to new and often invisible risks. For domestic workers, these thorns show up as scams, impersonations, and the constant, exhausting weight of online harassment. The WhatsApp groups that are meant to be safe spaces for advice and peer support can sometimes become sources of stress when misleading job posts and fraudulent recruiters circulate. Tech workers too face their own challenges, including impersonation, stalking, and digital hostility lurking around every corner, especially for women whose voices are too often ignored, dismissed, or attacked. Agricultural workers also navigate a world of exploitative brokers, fake buyers, unclear job conditions, and gendered harassment while marketing their produce.

The challenges extend far beyond what we can see. High data costs, limited access to reliable devices, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, gaps in digital skills, and the mental strain of staying vigilant make even basic online tasks difficult. It is evident that opportunity and risk sit side by side, each demanding vigilance, resilience, and ingenuity from workers trying to carve out a better life online.

Collective resilience in digital spaces

Yet, despite all these shortcomings, the workers’ resilience blooms in unexpected ways. Domestic workers, tech workers, and agricultural workers alike are building support systems and learning how to use digital spaces more safely and strategically. At the Domestic Professionals Association of Kenya (DPAK), for example, workers not only learn how to do their jobs better but also how to thrive.

“We have sessions on TikTok such as ‘Let’s Talk Tuesday,’ where workers share the challenges they go through as domestic workers and how to navigate them. We also have ‘Career Wednesday,’ where we discuss avenues for upskilling so that we can do our jobs better, and ‘Finance Friday,’ where we teach domestic workers about handling finances so they can thrive.”
Elizabeth Gitau, Managing Director of DPAK, explains.

Similarly, tech and agricultural workers access mentorship and guidance on safe digital practices through support networks like Kijiji Yeetu. Slowly, these digital spaces are shifting from spaces of uncertainty into spaces of possibility, giving workers the tools and confidence they need to claim opportunities that were once out of reach.

In the quiet corners of their homes, or between errands and house chores, domestic workers are turning their phone screens into classrooms. Racheal, for instance, spends her free time watching cooking tutorials on YouTube.

“Social media has helped me gain more skills. Yes, I knew how to cook, but I have been able to better my cooking skills through the lessons I have learned through YouTube and other platforms,” she recollects.

​​Catherine, another domestic worker, scrolls through free courses on Alison and Coursera whenever she can.

“I have discovered new ways to gain skills through online platforms where I take online courses to become more professional,” she explains.

For her, upskilling is all about stepping into bigger and better opportunities.

From access to agency

Through Data Mtaani, it became clear that the digital space and its platforms are not only just screens on workers’ mobile phones and computers, but also tools of learning, connection and self-determination. These voices are shaping research, informing policy conversations, and challenging digital platforms to do better. For many women, especially those historically excluded from formal employment opportunities, these spaces are opening doors that once felt firmly closed. The digital world is imperfect and often precarious, but in the hands of determined workers, it is also becoming a bridge, one that connects risk with possibility, and survival with growth.

Author: Brian Gillo, Software Engineer | AI Researcher & Governance

At DataFest Africa 2025, I had the privilege of leading a session titled “Africa Owns the Data.” What began as a dialogue grew into something larger: a collective reflection on how data shapes identity, policy, and the future of African innovation.

In a world where algorithms determine what stories are told and who gets heard, this conversation reminded us that data is not just information; it is influence. For Africa, reclaiming that influence begins with one idea and ownership.

a. Rethinking Ownership

Too often, Africa’s data is collected, processed, and interpreted elsewhere. The result is a picture of the continent that lacks depth and connection to its lived realities.

But ownership is not only about where data is stored; it is about who defines its purpose.

In the session, we explored how data sovereignty extends beyond databases and cloud systems. True ownership means ensuring that the people who generate data also benefit from its use. It transforms data subjects into data citizens.

This vision requires systems built on trust, transparency, and fairness. Communities must be confident that their data will protect their privacy while also empowering their growth. Governments, innovators, and citizens need a shared understanding of data as a common resource, one that serves everyone equally.

b. Reclaiming the Narrative

Africa’s story has long been told through someone else’s datasets, often focused on scarcity rather than potential.

At DataFest, it became clear that this must change. New storytellers are emerging through open data initiatives, community-driven mapping, and localized AI projects. They are showing what happens when data reflects creativity, resilience, and humanity instead of crisis.

Reclaiming the narrative also means nurturing a new generation of African data thinkers and professionals who can bridge technology, ethics, and human experience. These voices will shape a data culture that celebrates context and community, not just computation.

c. Building Data Trust

A recurring theme during the dialogue was trust. People are more willing to share their data when they understand its purpose and benefit.

Building this trust requires systems where consent is informed, communication is clear, and accountability is visible.

Imagine a future where citizens can trace how their data influences national health policies, environmental actions, or education reforms. Imagine knowing that each contribution has an impact. This is what ownership in practice looks like: informed participation and meaningful engagement.

The Call to Action

As the discussions unfolded, a quiet shift took place. The dialogue was not just about identifying problems; it was about designing solutions.

Africa does not need to copy global data models. It can create frameworks rooted in Ubuntu with the understanding that “I am because we are.” When data is shared responsibly and interpreted within local realities, it becomes a tool for empowerment rather than control.

Our session closed with a collective understanding: data should serve as a pathway to equity, not exploitation. That requires collaboration, empathy, and courage from everyone, including developers, researchers, innovators, policymakers, and citizens alike.

Looking Ahead

DataFest Africa 2025 felt like a homecoming. It was a reminder that Africa’s data story is already being rewritten by those who ask new questions and build new systems.

The key lesson I carry forward is simple yet profound: data represents people before it represents power. When ownership returns to the people, everything changes the insights we discover, the innovations we build, and the futures we imagine.

Africa’s data belongs to its people. Our responsibility is to ensure it also works for them.

Author: Kamogelo Makhoba

Stepping into REDATA felt like crossing into an Afrofeminist future where data is no longer distant or cold, but alive, responsive, and shaped by us. As a Games Design Fellow at Pollicy, DataFest Africa 2025 allowed me to fulfil a dream of bringing play, motion, and storytelling into the data and femtech space. My installation was part of the Afrofeminist Data Museum, a multisensory exhibition that unfolded the journey of data through Foundations of Data, Data in Theory, and Data in Motion.

Reimagining data, reclaiming “RE”: the meaning behind REDATA

The name REDATA carries a dual meaning. The “RE” stands for reimagining data, challenging how TFGBV information is presented, and transforming it into a living, emotional experience.

But “RE” in Setswana also means “we”.So REDATA becomes a declaration that WE ARE DATA. Our stories, our bodies, our movements all shape the digital world. This dual meaning reflects the heart of the installation, reclaiming data as something created by us, for us, and about us, while honouring African languages and ways of knowing.

The museum, co-curated by Pollicy and Vodo Arts Society and Lab, featured installations that blended storytelling, motion, visuals, and immersive media, making topics such as data rights, digital safety, and equity accessible and emotionally engaging.

REDATA lived in the final section, reimagining the data behind African women’s online experiences and turning these abstract statistics on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) into an immersive, motion-driven, embodied, interactive experience where visitors didn’t just see data but moved through it, shaped it with their bodies, and felt its emotional weight.

This installation drew on Pollicy’s research studies like Alternate Realities, Alternate Internets, and Unlocking the Power in Gender Data, both of which document African women’s experiences in digital and data ecosystems marred by the invisibility of women’s realities in online harms. I abstracted these findings into a particle cloud representing TFGBV metrics like prevalence across countries, types of abuse, and emotional tolls, including fear, isolation, and rage, without revealing any identifiers with the sole goal of uncovering patterns and scale of the issue.

The tech stack was intentionally accessible yet powerful. I used Python-scripted data flows and particle logic, which allowed me to overcome my own coding fears! MediaPipe was used for motion capturing via a simple webcam, tracking hand gestures in real-time, and a layered soundscape featuring anxious tones and heartbeats that responded dynamically to inputs, bringing about the multi-sensory effect of the museum.

Inside the projection zone

An open palm causes the particle cloud to break apart into smaller clusters, revealing metrics from the countries included in the study and how deeply TFGBV affects women across regions. At the same time, the soundscape shifts, anxious tones layered with a subtle heartbeat capturing the fear, tension, and uncertainty women experience when harassment, abuse, or violence occurs online. A closed palm or fist brings the particles back together, forming a unified sphere, and the audio stabilizes, returning to a steady, grounded sound, symbolizing the strength of community, solidarity, and collective action, a reminder that when we stand together, we can confront and dismantle TFGBV.

As visitors stepped into this zone, the instructions were;

Step 1: Raise your hands, and the particles would scatter into country-specific clusters (e.g., Uganda’s harassment rates, Kenya’s deepfake incidents), sound shifts to tense pulses evoking fear.

Step 2: Open your palms wide and cluster fragments further, exposing granular stories (e.g., 53% of women report economic sabotage via leaks).

Step 3: Clench a fist or close palms and particles reform into a unified sphere, audio stabilizes into communal harmony symbolizing solidarity’s power to reclaim space.

Step 4: Wave or circle, and data swirls into resilience patterns, revealing pathways out of violence.

This gesture-driven logic made visitors authors of the narratives; their movements broke isolation (scattering), revealed truths (exposure), and rebuilt strength (reunification). Constraints like remote development and a last-minute crash tested us, but 12 hours later, with Pollicy’s Research team sourcing data and curators providing space/equipment, we launched a resilient new build that captivated crowds.

Community, connection, and the future of African playtelling

REDATA embodied DataFest’s theme by flipping TFGBV data from an extractive ledger of harm into a tool for visibility, accountability, and action. Visitors didn’t consume statistics, but inhabited them, emerging with a visceral understanding that this is our data, our story, our power.

“Now I see the scale and our strength. Data isn’t neutral, it’s us.”- A participant reflected.

Throughout the experience, people watched themselves shape the data with their own bodies. Seeing participants interact, pause, reflect, and emotionally connect with the stories hidden behind the numbers was both powerful and affirming. A couple of DataFest moments stood out for me beyond the museum itself. The wellness hub was an absolute gem after many hours in heels and a strained voice. The calm energy and warm company from the team were a blessing. I kept the notes that visitors left at REDATA; watching people light up as they interacted with the installation was incredibly heartwarming. But the best part of all was that the Pollicy team was extremely welcoming and helpful, holding space through crashes and deadlines, turning stress into triumph. I also got to inspire students and the next generation of tech women and girls with a quick talk on game design, answering their questions about REDATA. It echoed my younger self’s craving for that spark, fuelling my fire to keep showing up.

For me, DataFest Africa unpacked a lot about data, femtech, engagement, and teamwork. Ambition’s my double-edged sword, but collaboration? That’s the superpower, centring Africans first, keeping it playful and inclusive. Kampala stole my heart on my first visit; it was an epic ride of learning and joy. Playtelling African stories remains my mission, DataFest unlocked it, proving game design can reshape this space.

I’m grateful for the co-creation that showed me how far my skills can stretch.