FROM DEF ON THE FIELD
Breaking Taboos, Building Conversations: The Digital Didi Smart Pad Program
In many parts of India, conversations around menstruation remain hushed, hidden behind layers of stigma and taboo. But in a small yet powerful gathering, a group of women is changing this narrative. SlumSoccer, in collaboration with Sport for Good City Delhi and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), organized the Digital Didi Smart Pad Program—a unique initiative that opened up an honest, safe space for women to talk about menstrual health. Read More
Entitlements to Empowerment: Sajiya’s Journey in Assam
In Malibari, a quiet village in Bihdia Jajikona Block of Assam’s Kamrup district, a quiet transformation is taking root. At the center of this change is Sajiya Choudhury, a woman who has made it her mission to connect rural women with the opportunities that government schemes and digital tools have long promised but seldom delivered. Read More
FROM DEF THINK TANK
Circular Economy – Making good of what goes around, comes around
The “Circular Economy” handbook explores the sustainable use of digital devices through reuse, recycling, and eco-friendly design.
Death by Data: The Human Cost of Digital Governance
Explores how digital-only governance systems cause exclusion, denial of welfare and life-threatening consequences for those without digital access.
Building Smart Villages: A New Paradigm for Rural Development in India
Proposes digitally connected smart villages as models of self-reliant, sustainable rural transformation.
VISUAL STORY TELLING FROM THE COMMUNITIES
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WHAT ARE WE DISCUSSING
Rethinking Digital Access: From Connectivity to Transactions
On World Wi-Fi Day 2025, at the Broadband India Forum Conference, critical voices in digital development came together to emphasise one powerful idea: digital access must lead to meaningful online transactions.
From Exclusion to Empowerment: Gender, Tech & Policy
At the Gender and Inclusion Conference 2025 in Hyderabad, Osama Manzar, Founder & Director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), emphasised why technology must be at the heart of solving age-old challenges of gender inequality and social exclusion.
KNOW ABOUT OUR PROJECTS
MILaap: Media Information Literacy Awareness and Action Program
MILaap is Digital Empowerment Foundation’s flagship initiative aimed at tackling the growing challenges of misinformation and digital exclusion, particularly at the grassroots level in India.
Click here to read more about the programme
Disability Scheme Serve & Earn 250/33
In partnership with the Government of Telangana and the EquallyAble Foundation, the “Serve & Earn 250/33” Disability Scheme is launched at the village level to digitally empower 100,000 unconnected villagers…
Click here to read more about the programme
OUR PRESENCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY
