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Rwanda Saving Mothers' Lives With An SMS

James Rwema

September 14, 2021 |

Rwanda Dispatch |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Rwanda

The RapidSMS program provides mobile phones to connect pregnant women, community health workers (CHWs), ambulances, and hospitals. CHWs enter data into phones to track all pregnant women, monitor prenatal care, and identify women at risk of complications. The free platform also allows pregnant women to send a text message to their CHW, who can alert an ambulance to be dispatched to even the most remote regions and give hospitals advanced notice of the women’s arrival. The system has been so effective in improving health outcomes that the government is looking to use it for other medical issues like malaria.

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Get There Fast or Safe? A Crowdsourced Map Gives You the Option

Chandni Doulatramani

June 29, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Gurgaon

In 71 cities around the world, users of the My Safetipin mobile app can decide whether to visit a particular neighborhood or plan a travel route based on how safe others deem those places. While the 100,000 or so users, more than half in India, constitute too small a user base to make the mapping app truly universal, its crowdsourced data already have prompted the Delhi and Bogota governments to improve street lighting on streets deemed unsafe because they are not well lit. The app's primary goal is to make the streets safer for women.

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How teens are using online platforms to call out racism in high school

Umme Hoque

June 16, 2021 |

Prism |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

All over the country, students are using the internet to call out racism. Young people are publishing open letters, creating Change.org petitions and Google Docs “with lists of racist people in their classes, and using online platforms to organize protests.” In Boston, teens from the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center wrote an open letter asking school officials to address the wave of anti-asian hate crimes. After the letter, officials issued a resolution. Although, in some instances these actions do result in change, sometimes it can result in censorship towards students of color.

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Local Platforms for Online Food Delivery Are Eating the Big Guys' Lunch

Oscar Perry Abello

June 15, 2021 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Lexington, Kentucky

Locally owned restaurant delivery platforms charge lower commissions than national giants like GrubHub, allow customers to order food on smart-phone apps, and have found ways to be profitable while also keeping money in local economies. While platforms differ by locale, cooperative models are increasingly popular. For example, Delivery Co-op in Lexington, KY provides customers with unlimited deliveries for a monthly fee, charges participating restaurants a flat monthly fee, and pays drivers a base salary plus tips, with benefits kicking after three months of full-time work and profit-sharing after one year.

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How WhatsApp became a tool for Indian police to fight harassment

Mahima Jain

April 22, 2021 |

Rest of World |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Hyderabad, Telangana

In India, where women face high rates of harassment by men but rarely report abuse because they view the police as hostile, the Telangana State Police encouraged more reporting by turning WhatsApp into an anti-harassment hotline. By using the country's most popular phone app rather than one of the many safety apps designed for this purpose, the police now get about 40% of their complaints through this channel. Turning complaints into prosecutions remains a challenge. But, when women decline to press charges, the police require alleged harassers to attend counseling.

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With phones and seeds, jobless Kenyans tackle illegal logging

Kagondu David Njagi

April 15, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kwale

As a way to combat unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent further deforestation in Kenya, local rangers are using smartphones, satellite feeds, and global mapping to monitor their forests. The project employs more than 250 people and allows them to target vulnerable areas more effectively. Because of their efforts, there have been lower incidences of illegal logging and forest fires from poachers.

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Citizen-Led Initiative Battles Dangerous ‘Infodemic'

Aline Suárez del Real

April 06, 2021 |

Global Press Journal |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Mexico

Verificovid was started by a group of friends to combat pandemic-related misinformation in Mexico. They work with a group of government doctors to identify, track, investigate, and disprove misinformation. The group posts infographics with updated COVID-19 statistics on social media – mainly Whatsapp and Telegram – and offers medical tips via short audio messages and texts. They prioritize fast-moving misinformation that could cause the most harm and, along with sharing the truth, they investigate the origin of the misinformation and teach the public how to identify and stop fake news.

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How META is helping women deliver safely in rural Benue communities

Desmond Okon

March 31, 2021 |

Business Day |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Gboko

Maternal Expert Thinking Analyzer is a pilot project to prevent maternal mortality that uses a mobile diagnostic, training, and outreach application to help midwives assess the risk of their patients in rural areas. Midwives input data collected from pregnant mothers into the app and generate an automated risk-based assessment score. The pregnant mother then receives a text with advice based on her risk level. A total of 33 midwives across 14 regions are trained to use the app. Initial results indicate that the app has had positive results preventing maternal mortality and even increasing antenatal care.

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‘They track every move': how US parole apps created digital prisoners

Todd Feathers

March 04, 2021 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

State and federal parole officials have rushed during the pandemic to embrace the use of smartphone apps that monitor the location and behavior of a person on parole. The apps and related data analytics save courts money and time by easing the need for face-to-face meetings. While there are potential benefits as well for the people being monitored, such as not wearing stigmatizing and uncomfortable ankle monitors, some complain the apps are even more intrusive than traditional monitoring – and perhaps more apt to lead to technical violations of parole that can land people back in prison.

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Removing Obstacles to Mental Health Care — Over the Phone

Prudence Phiri

February 25, 2021 |

Global Press Journal |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Zambia

StrongMinds Zambia began offering teletherapy, in part due to COVID-19 related restrictions, but also to address the many new stressors that came with the pandemic. Counselors hold group calls with five people twice a week for five weeks. Clients are not charged for treatment or the calling costs. Some of the 1,500 women and about 100 men treated via teletherapy express the benefit of anonymity that speaking over the phone brings in a therapy setting. Without fear of being identified, clients feel more comfortable talking freely, especially given existing stigmas surrounding mental health issues.

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