Ehtesab

If I was selected the winner of the Elevate Prize, I would firstly expedite the process of the our new real-time security feature on the Ehtesab app. We have been working diligently on it but we do not have the budget to provide Afghan users with simple handhelds (like Nokia phones) with real-time security texts. As over 60% of the Afghan population utilizes these phones, we need to ensure there is equitable access to security information through short codes and SMS. Although smartphone usage is increasingly rapidly due to the cheaper cost of smartphones and increased access to 3G, it is still a few years away from significant reach, especially with the U.S. withdrawal. Also, I would work with a research and data analytics team to work on how we can utilize the data we accumulate for sustainable policy changes and security changes that may alleviate day-to-day concerns of Afghan citizens. Long term, we would also like to utilize Ehtesab's reporting feature to gather reports from users on city services and corruption and rate the work of city offices and bridge the communication gap between Afghan citizens and their elected officials. 

My name is Sara Wahedi and I am incredibly passionate about empowering Afghan citizens to bring sustainable change in their communities. Technology is the future in Afghanistan - and I do not believe that every country must go through the same trials and tribulations of development - at the cost of decades of delay beyond the rest of the world. Afghanistan can leap-frog in to the future, and with one of the largest youth populations in the world, we are already taking hold of our future through innovation. Afghans are relentless and capable people and I want to utilize technology to bring change to our communities. During this past year, we surveyed 1500 Afghans across Kabul city, including disadvantaged areas such as Dasht-i-Barchi, an area of the city where the Taliban and ISIS have relentlessly attacked due to its Hazara population. Currently, the Ehtesab team is made up of 50% of Barchi residents, ready to take hold of the change they want to see in their community. Ehtesab means 'accountability' in Dari and Pashto. We want to democratize access to information and inform policy through our citizens - and we've already established its foundation for a long and impactful future.

Without civic engagement, nothing can bring sustainable change. This is the problem which Ehtesab is trying to solve: how can we motivate Afghan citizens to take part in the affairs of their communities? How can we facilitate the process of reporting issues on city services, corruptive incidents or demanding action?

Equitable access to information is a significant problem across many developing countries - especially in mitigating corruption. When people are in the dark, illegality thrives. At Ehtesab, we believe Afghans will be motivated to take part in accountability building when a platform is built that listens and gives them the ability to directly engage with their elected officials. 

But to do this, we have realized that we needed people to trust Ehtesab first. Through our aforementioned survey, citizens main concern was security. So we responded. We are currently building a real-time security service through the Ehtesab app to send verified and location-based reports on attacks, explosions, road blockages and many other security/transportation related concerns across Afghanistan's 5 main cities. We hope that when we can provide this service in a timely, trusted and efficient manner, we can move to the next phase of Ehtesab - Afghans making Ehtesab their own.

What makes Ehtesab innovative is how the solutions we design resemble platforms such as Twitter whose interfaces are designed to be friendly and encourage engagement, while being easily accessible in Afghanistan. Twitter's focus, for example, is social connectivity, but Ehtesab utilizes this easy-to-navigate platform to keeping users safe and informed, by providing real-time safety alerts. All reports are screened and filtered by the Ehtesab team (including the Ministry of Interior and respective CSOs) to create short, verified alerts, which are then pinged to anyone who may be within 500 meters from the incident. At Ehtesab, our work is propelled by the rapid growth of smartphone usage across the country, especially as they are becoming increasingly cheaper to purchase. Simultaneously, we have begun steps to mitigate the gap in rural areas by providing real-time SMS updates for those outside of Afghanistan's 5 major cities who most likely only have access to simple devices such as Nokia handsets.

Ehtesab's mission is to create a platform which encourages accountability and  to facilitate Afghans in their right to know what’s happening inside their communities with real-time and verified information. At Ehtesab, we are confident that transparency can drive change for the better. As mentioned prior, our impact is only measured through the trust that we are able to build through our users. Through our city-wide survey, 97% of respondents requested that Ehtesab should first tackle security. We responded to their request. We are a month away from launching this feature through the Ehtesab app, and we hope that as it provides Afghans with the information they need, we will be able to focus on other issues such as corruption, education, health, and equitable city services. In countries like Afghanistan, building trust is imperative in our culture. Through the usage of technology and the collection of data, we can bring about impact in many ways. From requesting police to increase patrolling in an area prone to the harassment of women to requesting municipalities to increase street lighting in dark alleys or change traffic routes where IEDs are more susceptible during rush hour, Ehtesab aims to inform policy through citizens themselves.