This came at a time when solidarity among civil society actors working to promote human rights was of paramount importance.

A preliminary internal study within Bingwa Civic Tech Lab, and compiled in a Needs Assessment Report for Civil Society Organizations in Goma/North Kivu in March 2025, took stock of the situation of human rights defenders in the region and made it possible to identify and summarize, by theme, the needs and challenges expressed by organizations working in the Goma and North Kivu region. The responses analyzed focused on the following areas:

• Digital security

• Response to gender-based violence (GBV)

• Access to digital tools

• Capacity Building / Training

• Advocacy Support

• Other (additional) needs

This study, which involved the participation of eight (8) Civil Society Organizations from the North Kivu Province, demonstrated that digital security was a cross-cutting need expressed by the majority of organizations, with a strong demand for training, secure communication tools and data protection solutions.

Common challenges included vulnerability to cyberattacks and the lack or inadequacy of secure digital infrastructure, etc.

Digital security, access to digital tools and capacity building being among the themes that have particularly attracted our attention, these have been the subject of a re-evaluation as part of our mission to technically support Civil Society Organizations in terms of digital security in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Leverage the “all-in-one” Digital Security toolkit that fits in your pocket

This training session covered the intricacies of advanced digital security through the use of a portable Operating System to address Censorship and Surveillance in a volatile security environment.

Tails, or "The Amnesic Incognito Live System," is a security-focused Debian-based Linux distribution designed to protect privacy and anonymity from surveillance. The system connects to the internet exclusively through the Tor anonymity network and currently has 25,000 daily users worldwide.

Thanks to a range of secure applications useful in the context of digital security, member organizations of our network had an opportunity to explore free and open source tools offering anonymous Internet access, metadata cleaning tools, encrypted communication software as well as secure password management.

With no prior installation required and running directly from a USB drive, this tool will allow the Human Rights Defender to make his computer secure wherever he is, and to be able to temporarily transform his own computer into a secure machine and stay safe when the latter uses someone else's computer.

Preparing for searches and seizures of mobile devices

This session also focused on the digital security of mobile devices that may be subject to searches or confiscations; and a key question was posed to participants: “What measures can you take if you find yourself in a situation where your phone is confiscated or leaked?”

Participants' responses were both insightful and revealing, hinting at possible actions that could be taken, including: deleting sensitive data, completely resetting the device, or manually deleting files or messages.

However, one crucial point was raised to draw everyone's attention: that These methods do not guarantee permanent deletion of data.. Indeed, specialized tools like Cellebrite or GrayKeyare able to recover deleted information, even after a reset.

Acting in a hurry may seem legitimate, and deleting a WhatsApp chat in a panic may seem useful, but the data is not completely erased; and if a cloud backup (Google Drive, iCloud) is enabled, the chats can be restored after re-installation.

Even deleting the app itself doesn't guarantee anything until automatic backups are disabled.

Faced with the complexity of the situation, Bingwa Civic Tech Lab shared good practices useful in this context and enabled participants to recognize that digital security is not an option, especially for human rights defenders, journalists and it starts with simple actions: (strong password, SIM card lock, disabled notifications, etc.) which can go as far as using advanced tools like Tails OS, guaranteeing anonymity and confidentiality.

This activity is part of our mission to create digital solidarity among human rights defenders working in high-risk areas and who often put their lives at risk to promote social justice.