The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is in a perennial state of conflict which brings a lot of instability in the development sector. Being conflict-ridden, DRC presents a plethora of challenges in advancing Internet freedom and digital security. Despite these challenges, the digital ecosystem in DRC is constantly evolving due to investments made by the private sector. With increased Internet connectivity in the country, various cybercrimes have surfaced, and surveillance has increased, which threatens human rights defenders and journalists. The public is constantly worried about the security of their personal email, social media accounts, and online gender-based violence, such as revenge porn.
Rudi International, the local partner of the Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) project, has been working tirelessly to build the local community’s digital safety and security practices.
“When connectivity is increasing and people are just learning how to navigate the Internet, challenges arise as well, including people’s safety. That is why Rudi International has been working on capacity building to address security and safety issues faced by the community,”
Arsène Tungali, Executive Director at Rudi International.
During GIF project, Rudi International has piloted numerous trainings and workshops to increase knowledge on digital security best practices, such as having strong passwords, keeping devices safe, and protecting online privacy for both end-users and community experts. Rudi International has also trained IT experts as auditors who conduct needs assessments and digital safety audits on vulnerable civil society organizations (CSOs) and media outlets.
“Most IT people pay a lot of money to get this audit certificate. Although we are not a certification entity, we have been able to provide them with access to intensive audit training and practice, free of charge. We trained these IT auditors, and also sent them to support CSOs. I would say this is one of the amazing things that we did with GIF. I would bet we are the first to do it in the region,” proudly states Arsène Tungali, Executive Director at Rudi International.
With GIF’s support, CSOs in DRC have been able to identify their security vulnerabilities and address the security challenges they face.
Auditors engage with employees, senior management, IT staff, and social media personnel to tailor specific support according to their needs. Audit reports provide these at-risk institutions with recommendations and a list of best practices to improve their digital safety. Most, if not all, of these CSOs had never received such support before. Through GIF, upon conducting needs assessments, Rudi International was able to distribute legitimate antivirus licenses to these CSOs.
“We would have never been able to do this work without the support of GIF. The impact of the work we have been doing on the ground is entirely thanks to the support that we receive from GIF. When I say all those organizations have benefited from our support, it is through the GIF project,” says Arsène Tungali.
