Gratefully appreciative of the partnership with Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) and Digital Human Rights Lab (DHRLab), I sincerely thank you for the opportunity and confidence exhibited in me while the one-week digital security training took the centre stage.
End-user training, which varies dramatically in scope and length, typically convenes some mix of human rights defenders, activists, and media producers (bloggers, journalists, or citizen reporters) to focus on tools, tactics, and concepts that facilitate the safe use of digital platforms and tools. I am glad to have been part of the 5-day ToT training designed to build the capacity of trainers from 5 districts in Uganda (Kabale, Lira, Kampala, Kabarole, and Jinja) who later trained 120 university students, women politicians, artists, activists, journalists and law enforcers in Uganda. Relatively, a small pool of security experts capable of training in the digital security/ safety and development fields limits the degree to which this community can grow and respond rapidly.
Cumulatively, these efforts endeavor to support civil society, human rights defenders, university students, law enforcers, activists, and journalists in their attempts to access and communicate information in repressive contexts without compromising themselves or their colleagues. Targeting women survivors of Online Gender-Based Violence was always going to be NOT only a good thing BUT also the only path to securing their online presence and encouraging meaningful participation.
Cybersecurity training has come a long way in the last few years. Back in the day, security training was largely reserved for IT security specialists and then extended to include IT personnel in general. These days, all Human Rights Defenders and activists need to be well educated in security best practices and good habits if the organization wishes to avoid ransomware and Malware. Based on the 5 day’s digital security training; the following were some of the feedback or achievements, WOUGNET got from the training;
The current focus of most digital security awareness training initiatives is on phishing – and with good reason. Phishing is responsible for the bulk of breaches. I greatly appreciate the trainees for their soberness throughout the whole week and their sincere appreciation towards our efforts to make them aware of the trends in the digital world.
By Taremwa Albert
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This article is part of a series of posts by trainers of trainees during the online safety and digital security capacity building workshop conducted by Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) under the project, Enhancing Women’s Rights Online through inclusive and effective response to online Gender-based violence in Uganda. The project is funded by the Digital Human Rights Lab which is implemented by betterplace lab and Future Challenges under a grant agreement with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Programme Strengthening Governance and Civil Society in Uganda, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under its Digital Africa Initiative.
