Using SMS to mobilize the community clean-up of Ciliwung River, Indonesia: One piece of garbage at a time.

FrontlineSMS has had a strong connection with environmental issues since our Founder had the initial spark of an idea while working on an anti-poaching project in South Africa. We’re delighted to be able to host Een Irawan Putra of KPC Bogor and the Indonesia Nature Film Society to our blog, to share how he used FrontlineSMS in Indonesia to invite he community to help clean... Read More

Keeping it Simple with SMS

We are delighted to feature a guest blog post from Rosa Akbari and her work in Algeria, funded by a  grant from UNOCHA. Rosa used what was already in place – a mobile phone in each household – capitalized on existing information flows as they worked without technology, and only added FrontlineSMS to ease the communication at the camp. Fantastic stuff! UN Special Envoy... Read More

MfarmerSMS service links farmers to better markets in Nakaseke- Uganda

We’re delighted to share this guest post from FrontlineSMS user Peter Balaba, project manager for Nakaseke Community Telecenter in Uganda.  The MFarmer SMS service, a project of the Nakaseke Community Telecentre in Uganda, helps farmers in rural areas to connect with better markets. It encourages two-way feedback with farmers, buyers and agro-processors, and other service... Read More

ChatSalud Aims to Empower Rural Nicaraguans to Advocate for their Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Guest post from FrontlineSMS user Lauren Spigel, and  Nishant Kishore Co-Founders of  ChatSalud Follow/Like ChatSalud on Facebook and on Twitter.  Our Story: In Nicaragua, sex is embarrassing.  Yet in a country where approximately 50 percent of the population is below the age of 18, and where 1 in 3 adolescent girls will become pregnant before they reach the age of 18, it’s... Read More

Star FM in Zimbabwe ensure Young People are the Stars

Republished from the FrontlineSMS:Radio blog: Star FM in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe was established in October 2000 to address a specific need for a platform to allow young people living in the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province to discuss issues affecting them. The founders also realized that there was no radio station targeted at youth in the country. Although Star FM does not have a license... Read More

FrontlineSMSat7: Mobile Money made easy and accessible

In the sixth of our seven blog posts celebrating the month that FrontlineSMS turns 7, Enock Musyoka, our FrontlineSMS: Credit Project Assistant, shares the impact FrontlineSMS:Credit’s PaymentView has on Nunguni Financial Service Association and its members. The power of owning a mobile phone is beyond SMS messages; PaymentView makes it easier to manage payment plans. Nunguni... Read More

FrontlineSMSat7: KOFAVIV Supporting Haitian Women

In the fourth of our seven blog posts celebrating the month that FrontlineSMS turns 7, Sean Martin McDonald, CEO of our social enterprise, reflects on how KOFAVIV, a women’s organization in Port-Au-Prince, supports women affected by rape and domestic violence via SMS, in the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian Earthquake.  The ladies of KOFAVIV “My favorite thing about... Read More

FrontlineSMS at 7: Nigerian Mobile Election Monitors, 2007, from our Founder, Ken Banks

In the second of our seven blog posts celebrating the month that FrontlineSMS turns seven, our Founder Ken Banks reflects on one of the first users of our free, award-winning platform and the example that put us in the headlines for the first time. See a slideshow of our users showing off their work here. “I’m often asked what my favourite FrontlineSMS deployment is. “I... Read More

FrontlineSMS:Credit takes on Kisumu

By Enock Musyoka, Project Assistant, FrontlineSMS: Credit Sharon, Project Director :Credit, showing SWAP staff how to use PaymentView A few weeks ago, the FrontlineSMS:Credit team and FrontlineSMS M&E Intern Juliana embarked on a trip to Kisumu to meet FrontlineSMS users and potential PaymentView users. After an early morning flight, we met Joseph Achola, head teacher at Lake... Read More

Planning and assessment of mobile phone use: effective SMS in Cambodia from World Vision UK

Assessing whether to use SMS is even more important than figuring out how to do it, as Joshua Pepall, World Vision’s United Kingdom Senior Accountability Advisor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, reports in a special guest blog post. Improved accountability to communities and value for money are hot topics for World Vision and for the UK Department for International Development (DFID),... Read More