Here is a list of 5 mobile apps that encourage people to participate in addressing global issues like poverty, slavery, employment, and infrastructure:

Abolishop: This app was a winner of Virginia Tech’s competition to invent technology that would help combat modern day slavery. The app is a web extension which provides consumers with a quick and easy way to check if the available products were ethically made. Abolishop will check potential purchases and, using research from independent organizations, will give the item a letter grade (A, B, or C) depending on the manufacturer’s history of using child labor or exploitative practices in production. Abolishop is based on the idea that consumers want to make ethically responsible choices, and lack the know-how to do so.

One Day’s Wages: One Day’s Wage is based on the idea that every individual will be willing to donate one day’s wage towards the fight to end extreme poverty. Their small and simple app allows you to calculate what one day’s wage is for you, and then select a charity to make a one time or recurring donation. Free, direct, and with a relatively simple idea, the ODW app has the necessary ingredients to make an impact. 

Causeworld: Causeworld is an app that calls upon businesses to donate part of their profits, with the help of the public. When individuals check in to stores and scan their products using the app, the sponsor company agrees to donate a certain amount of money to an organization of the consumers’ choice. This is an excellent app, as it relies on big business, and makes it as easy and painless as possible for consumers to get involved in doing good.

Give Work: Launched by Samasource, the Give Work app is aimed at Kenyan women and refugees. The app pairs smartphone users with Kenyans to complete short, on-screen digital tasks. So while waiting in line at the bank or stuck in traffic, one can now assist an individual in Africa. In turn, the Kenyan users are trained. The organization says the iPhone app has pinpointed what they need to focus on in training as well as generating money and awareness. 

Donation Connect: Donation Connect does what many other organizations do: it matches individuals with charities they’re interested in and allows them to donate. However, what makes Donation Connect innovative is that donations can be made through your phone, and appear on your next bill or deducted from your prepaid balance, rather than needing to go through a credit card or in person. This small tweak makes a major difference, for its ease, accessibility, and huge database of organizations. 

SeeClickFix: See Click Fix allows citizens to contribute to the good of their community in real time. They can highlight and update problems or areas of concern, e.g. broken roads, piles of trash, or hazards complete with descriptions, pictures, or videos. They can also track progress and discuss existing problems within the neighborhood  Citizen participation and communication is faster and more detailed and quicker, thereby enabling a much more engaged community. 

– Farahnaz Mohammed

Sources: Virginia Tech Youtube, One Day’s Wages, Forbes, Donation Connect,  SeeClickFix
Photo: Doxon