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Google announces 26 grantees for its Africa Online Safety Fund

Today is Safer Internet Day (9th February), which means a number of digital organisations are doing their parts in terms helping educate and assist people to be safer online. One such organisation is Google, which has announced the 26 grantees for its Africa Online Safety Fund.

The 26 grantees come from nine different countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, and will receive a share of $1 million from Google. The grantees are broken up into two categories – transformative and catalytic – with the former receiving a maximum of $100 000 and latter receiving a maximum of $10 000.

The transformative grantees focus on larger scale issues that impact a wider audience, and the catalytic are categorised as tackling more focused and niche problems.

“Google is committed to safety and privacy across the internet. It’s essential that people have the skills they need to stay safe online. The fund is designed to reach children, families and other internet users across the region with tools and resources that will help to protect them from online security threats, explore the web with confidence and harness all the benefits the internet can provide,” notes Yolanda Mlonzi, senior analyst, public policy and government relations at Google Africa.

Of the 26 grantees, six have been identified in South Africa, with the application process taking place between 17th July to 21 August of last year.

The local grantees are:

“Transformative ($100 000 each)

  1. Dream Factory Foundation – Combining online educational programs through edutainment and train-the-trainer workshops with telehealth counselling services for young people, teachers and parents.

  2. The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change – Developing and disseminating content that counters mis/disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic; and exposes manipulation networks that promote hate.

Catalytic, receiving $10 000 each:

  1. Endcode – Creating a framework and guidelines for defining age-appropriate online services.

  2. Fundanii – Training teachers and students, and integrating online safety into the digital literacy curriculum of a primary school district.

  3. Global Leading Light Initiatives – Facilitating student-driven and culturally inclusive internet safety education and awareness activities to empower young people, teachers and parents.

  4. Media Monitoring Africa – Creating and distributing educational online comic strips as a means to teach children how to critically decipher information and discern between credible news and disinformation.”

Head here to see the full list of all 26 grantees chosen for Google’s Africa Online Safety Fund this year.

We hope that this much-needed investment will help the organisations assist as designed.

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