About FMA The Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) is a non-profit service institution whose mission is to assist citizens and communities – especially civil society organizations (CSOs) and other development stakeholders – in their strategic and appropriate use of the various information and communications media for democratization and popular empowerment. Since its formation in 1987, FMA has sought to enhance the popularization and social marketing of development-oriented issues and campaigns through media-related interventions, social communication projects and cultural work. In 1996, FMA streamlined its programs and services in both traditional and new media, with a major focus on information and communications technologies (ICTs), to enable communities to assert their communication rights and defend their rights to information and access to knowledge, towards progressive social transformation. FMA seeks to develop programs and projects that strategically address the questions of access to and equity of disadvantaged sectors in the area of information and communications – and in locating the so-called digital divide within existing socio-political divides, including gender. These involve: • • • • 36 Promoting equitable partnerships for innovating connectivity and community access alternatives to assert the agenda of disadvantaged communities; Facilitating capacity-building sessions for CSOs in the area of ICT literacy, information/ communications/technology management, online collaboration/ advocacy and secure online communications; Helping CSOs manage development content through appropriate tools and technologies towards building vibrant online communities and knowledge networks; and Enhancing multi-stakeholder consensus-building on strategic information and communication agendas, via action-oriented research, constituency-building and public advocacy. <End Violence: Women’s Rights and Safety Online>