About
Zero looks like nothing. It makes everything computable.
Sifr — صفر — means zero: the number our region gave the world, and the root of the word cipher.
That's who we are: the engineers, analysts, sysadmins, and responders behind the scenes who make human rights work possible in the digital age. Mostly invisible by design — because when we do our jobs well, the defenders we support stay safe and the story is never about us.
Sifr Network exists so that none of us works alone. What started as a twelve-person Signal group sharing DDoS mitigation notes in 2021 is now a peer-governed network across 32 countries, built on one conviction: the people best placed to protect defenders in the global south are the technologists who live and work there.
Values
How we work
- Peer to peer. Members are skilled professionals, not beneficiaries. We write and work with each other — nobody is "capacity built".
- Safety by default. Every program, tool and document is judged first by whether it keeps people safe — members, and the defenders they serve.
- Local first. Solutions are designed for the bandwidth, budgets, languages and threat models of the places members actually work.
- Open knowledge. What one member learns, the network keeps. Resources are free to use, translate and adapt, forever.
Governance
Run by members, for members
The network is steered by an elected Circle of Seven — members serving one-year terms, with seats rotating across regions so no single context dominates decisions. Day-to-day work happens in four regional circles (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East & North Africa), which set their own priorities and budgets.
Membership decisions are made by peers: two existing members vouch for every applicant, and a regional circle reviews each application within three weeks.
Supporters
Who funds this
Sifr Network is supported by small, unrestricted grants from the Meridian Rights Fund, the Open Terrain Collective, and Círculo Digital, plus member organizations' in-kind time. Funders get annual reports and our thanks — never member data, never editorial say.