The DPI Safeguards initiative is a global multi-stakeholder effort convened and supported by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (OSET) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Our approach aims to minimize risks across all layers of digital transformation—technical, normative, and organizational—while ensuring maximum adherence to standards and regulations. This strategic focus creates an environment where DPI implementation is secure, inclusive, practical, and adaptable, thereby safeguarding the integrity of DPI and fostering a secure and trustworthy environment for all stakeholders. Our three key areas include (a) co-creation of the Universal DPI Safeguards Framework, (b) a Safeguards Resource Hub that features resources from and for partners, including the latest iterations of the Framework, DPI research, and implementation guidance to facilitate international and in-country collaboration as well as knowledge sharing and (c) in-country DPI Safeguards adoption, for DPI projects globally to participate and make progress in achieving safer and more inclusive implementation.

Artha Global, in collaboration with Co-Develop and EkStep Foundation, is supporting UNDP and Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology in this effort. The highlights of this work were showcased at the 2024 Summit of the Future, and we continue to globally support country adoption of the Safeguards Framework and help UNDP build a network of development partners, DPG providers, and civil society organizations to contribute to and commit to the Safeguards framework.

Following the announcement of an Initiative for safeguards in digital public Infrastructure by OSET and UNDP  in September 2023, Artha Global, Co-Develop and Societal Thinking  hosted a convening in New York on the sidelines of UNGA 78 to bring  together global leaders from government, civil society, development partners and the private sector  to brainstorm on the need for a global movement on inclusion and safeguards. Subsequently, Artha did ecosystem mapping and outreach to identify domain experts and champions for the Initiative, who eventually joined as members of the global Working Group constituted in January 2024. We supported UNDP-led workshops with DPI implementers around the world to create an informed view of the existing risks and mitigations for safety and inclusion. We designed and created the UN Universal DPI Safeguards Hub, a repository of knowledge and resources to further safety and inclusion in DPI implementations. We created convening kits for stakeholders to adopt, run their own consultations and provide their inputs back to the Safeguards Initiative. We synthesised feedback received from the public and ecosystem actors to provide the working groups with input for their deliberations.

Artha Global supported the United Nations’ Universal DPI Safeguards  initiative in their engagement with 44 DPI experts (from the public and private sectors, civil society, development agencies, and academia), 13 organizations constituting the International Organizations Consulting Group (IOCG), 12 countries, as well as the public through 13 convenings, and received feedback from over 100 contributors. The UN DPI Safeguards Initiative was able to include a broad swathe of global leaders for its working groups with knowledge partner contributions. The Initiative was able to engage with 30+ countries to learn from implementers about the need for and relevance of Safeguards in their contexts. 

The Initiative has since progressed to the Country Implementation phase, supporting 15 countries in their adoption of the Framework in 2025.