Digital Rights Fund in the West Asia and North Africa 

Call for Proposals

Introduction:

The Digital Rights Fund (DRF) is aligned with SMEX’s overarching mission to advance digital rights, promote freedom of expression, and protect civic space in the digital age across the WANA region. In recent years, the region has witnessed a significant escalation in digital threat, including increased surveillance, algorithmic biases, restrictive cybercrime legislation, arbitrary online censorship, militarization of Artificial Intelligence (AI), lack of digital sovereignty, and growing attacks on digital infrastructure. These challenges are not isolated; they form part of a broader trend of shrinking civic space and suppression of fundamental rights both online and offline.

SMEX believes that securing digital rights is essential to safeguarding broader human rights, particularly for marginalized and vulnerable communities. The fund therefore prioritizes proposals that respond to current regional threats and intersect with SMEX’s commitment to building a free, open, secure, and inclusive digital environment. Whether addressing surveillance, digital labor, AI agents, mapping digital rights violations, or working on innovative approaches to enhance digital rights, these focus areas are critical to strengthening civil society and enabling safe, rights-based digital engagement in the region.

We invite applicants to share with us innovative proposals that  address one or more of the focus areas outlined below. Applications that demonstrate a clear and meaningful connection to digital rights within these topics will be given priority:

Scope & Themes:

Proposals should address one or more of the following themes:

Surveillance and Spyware:

Proposals addressing the pervasive use of surveillance technologies, such as spyware and digital tracking tools, are encouraged. Surveillance has a chilling effect on the work of social justice organizations. It can expose sensitive information to silence activists and discourage them from carrying out their work. Combined with offline tactics such as judicial harassment, imprisonment, and severe restrictions of fundamental rights and freedoms essential to the work of civil society, such practices have contributed to the shrinking of civic spaces.  

Innovative Approaches to Enhance Digital Rights

Proposals that explore new methods, tools, and frameworks designed to protect and promote digital rights in an increasingly connected world. This includes creative legal strategies, emerging technologies, and interdisciplinary collaborations aimed at ensuring privacy, access, freedom of expression, and data protection online.

Digital Labor

Proposals that focus on the changing nature of work in the digital sphere, including content moderation, data labeling, and other forms of online labor.  These should examine the power dynamics, uncertainties, and exploitation often hidden behind platforms and algorithms, while also highlighting movements advocating for labor rights in digital economies.

AI Agents

Proposals that explore the role of AI agents in society from autonomous decision-making systems to personal assistants and their implications for accountability, fairness, transparency, and digital agency. This includes how AI reshapes human interactions, labor, and rights.

Mapping Digital Rights Violations

Proposals that include documenting and visualizing instances of digital rights abuse, such as censorship, surveillance, internet shutdowns, online extortion and data misuse. 

Algorithmic Biases 

Proposals that examine how biases embedded in algorithms influence decision-making processes, perpetuate inequalities, and impact human rights in digital spaces. This includes exploring the sources of bias in data and design, their effects on marginalized communities, and strategies to promote fairness, accountability, and transparency in automated systems.

Militarization of AI 

Proposals that investigate the growing use of artificial intelligence in military and security contexts, including autonomous weapons systems, predictive policing, and surveillance technologies. This theme should explore the ethical, legal, and human rights implications of deploying AI for warfare and defense, and examines its impact on peace, accountability, and global security dynamics.

Lack of Digital Sovereignty

Proposals that address the challenges arising from the dependence of countries on foreign digital infrastructures platforms, and technologies. This theme explores how limited control over data, infrastructure, and policy undermines privacy, security, and self-determination, and encourages strategies to strengthen local digital ecosystems, governance, and autonomy in the WANA region and beyond.

Arts and Culture

Proposals that engage with the intersection of arts, culture, and digital rights. This may include artistic or cultural expressions that highlight risks to privacy, censorship, surveillance, digital repression, data misuse, or threats to personal agency; digital archiving and cultural preservation; or creative storytelling methods that mobilize communities around digital rights issues.

Digital Infrastructure

Proposals that examine or document the current state, governance, accessibility, and resilience of digital infrastructure including internet connectivity, shutdowns, platform dependence, and localized technological capacity. This theme encourages applicants to explore how digital infrastructure shapes rights, access, autonomy, and power across the WANA region.

Other Thematic Areas

Proposals addressing additional topics may be considered if they demonstrate a strong intersection with digital rights, particularly issues related to economy, labor, social innovation, health, environment, marginalized communities, gender justice, or cross-border digital repression. 

Geographical Focus and Countries of Intervention

The DRF is dedicated to supporting initiatives within the WANA (West Asia and North Africa) region, specifically Arabic-speaking countries. Proposals must target one or more of the following eligible countries:

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt*, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia,  Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya, and South Sudan.

*Please note: Egypt is included with contextual considerations and may be subject to specific eligibility conditions.

Grant Amount and Project Duration

The grant amount shall be up to $15,000 USD. The requested amount and project duration must be realistic, well-justified, and clearly aligned with the project’s proposed activities and intended outcomes. Project timelines should consider the implementation period, resource availability, and organizational capacity. The final duration of funded projects will be determined based on the logic and feasibility of the implementation plan, as well as the project start date relative to the calendar and grant cycle. This said, the project duration would be best for a period of 6 or 9 months. 

Eligibility:

This funding opportunity welcomes applications from a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including:

• Individual activists from relevant professions such as researcher, policy or media advocate, influencer
• Students in the field of digital rights
• Informal groups and grassroots initiatives
• Formal non-profit and civil society organizations
• Previous DRF parters 

Priority will be given to new applicants, (young) individuals, small organizations and local initiatives that work directly with affected communities or have limited access to traditional funding sources.

Ineligible Entities

Applications will not be considered from:

• Any entity or individual listed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list.
• Entities that are based in or operating from countries subject to regulatory or legal constraints that restrict international funding or civil society activities.
• Individuals or organizations involved in human rights violations or abusive practices, including but not limited to actions that undermine civil liberties, suppress freedom of expression, or contribute to digital repression.

Submission Guidelines

• All applications must be submitted through this link.
• Applicants must upload: the following budget plan using this template.
• Additional documents may be requested by the DRF team during the review process.

Evaluation Criteria:

Submissions will be reviewed based on:

• Feasibility: The extent to which the proposed project presents a realistic and practical implementation plan, with clear objectives, achievable timelines, and alignment with the resources and capacities available.
• Efficiency: The clarity and coherence of the proposed activities in achieving the stated goals, ensuring that resources are used strategically  to maximize impact.
• Relevance: The alignment between the proposed activities and the pressing digital rights challenges faced in the WANA region, particularly in relation to privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information.
• Effectiveness: The potential of the project to generate meaningful and realistic change, contributing to safer, more inclusive, and rights-respecting digital environments.
• Sustainability: The long-term viability and anticipated lasting impact of the activities, including its ability to maintain results and build resilience beyond the project’s immediate funding period.
• Alignment with SMEX’s Vision: The extent to which the proposal advances SMEX’s overarching mission of promoting digital rights, privacy, and equitable access to online spaces throughout the WANA region.

Timeline:

Selection Process:

Our evaluation committee is composed of a diverse group of experts, each offering unique perspectives and extensive experience in the field. While some committee members remain constant, we also encourage the rotation of members to ensure fresh insights and maintain a dynamic evaluation process.

Upon receiving recommendations from the evaluation committee, we shall follow a meticulous selection process designed to identify promising proposals that effectively address digital rights issues in the WANA region. Throughout this selection process, we prioritize diversity and inclusivity, striving to ensure equitable representation from various communities and regions within the WANA region.

• Transparency and Fairness:

Our unwavering commitment to transparency and fairness is at the core of our efforts to foster a more just and inclusive digital society. We firmly believe that this rigorous evaluation and selection process will enable us to support projects that have a meaningful impact on the advancement of digital rights and social justice in the region.

• Application Process and Award Information:

Our DRF application process is user-friendly and accessible. You can easily apply through our online form, and we accept applications throughout the year to fit your project’s timeline.

Accessibility and Assistance for Applicants with Disabilities

We believe in making our grant application process accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. If you have a disability and need assistance completing this application, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to support you. We understand that some disabilities may make it challenging to fill out forms in writing, so we’re offering an alternative: we can set up an interview with you. During this interview, we’ll ask you the questions from the application and record your responses. Whether you prefer a phone call, a video chat, or another accessible method, we’ll work with you to make it as comfortable as possible.

Contact:

For questions or clarifications, contact Alissar Zaghlout, Project Lead: alissar@abed

If you need Technical support on the platform, please contact: mohamadc@smex.org