After witnessing widespread voting fraud during parliamentary elections, many engaged citizens in Russia decided they would only rely on themselves when it came to observing the presidential election on March 4. One way they could do it was with the “Web Election Observer” app for iPhones and Android. The simple and easy-to-use app lets observers document any irregularities they see and record them on an interactive map. Information and laws regarding elections and observers was provided to the app’s developers by the “Golos” non-governmental organization.

A crowdsourced map of for wheelchair users, this site tells people about accessibility of nearby locations. It’s available online and via iPhone app. Maps are based on openstreetmap data and the app was created by a German wheelchair user. Coverage is most extensive in Germany.

Harassmap takes aim at sexual harassment in Egypt. It allows victims to report incidents of harassment and maps them by type and location. Reports can be made via the website or text message. Harassmap also sponsored a campaign to raise awareness of sexual harassment via a Twitter hashtag, displaying tweets on the website and by asking people to blog for the cause on a particular day. Harassmap uses the Ushahidi platform.

This is reportedly the first mini-charity website in China that uses entertaining online questionnaires to grab the public’s attention. As long as enough people answer enough questions, certain enterprises that partner with the site donate money to help poor schools buy desks, to provide poor pupils with an egg a day, or to plant trees to protect the environment.

Zaanga is a blog and a platform for consumers to meet others dealing with product and service problems. The site narrows the gap between individuals and companies by allowing people to pass on complaints to prosecutors, consumer protection agencies and regulatory officials. One of Zaanga’s intentions is to get groups of individuals with similar complaints to form groups and collectively present their complaints to companies.

This blog claims to be the first to have introduced Bangla e-mail, chat and social media in a single platform. Mehdi Hasan’s attractive site offers easy solutions to technical issues like writing in the Bangla script on Facebook, using mobile phones to control desktop computers and how to blog with WordPress.

Balatarin is a collaborative content aggregation website. Since its inception, Balatarin has inspired many other websites to encourage Iranians to communicate openly regarding events unfolding in Iran. Balatarin has been attacked, hijacked and threatened by the authorities, but it has never left the grounds of social and political engagement.

Raspouteam uses QR codes, online maps and historical documents to connect important moments of French history online and in real life. It currently features the bloody repression of Algerian demonstrators in Paris and the key places of the French revolution of 1870 known as La Commune. It blends cutting edge mobile and web technology with historical investigation to preserve events and history in cyberspace.

Dr. Math provides live tutoring in math for school kids in South Africa. Using the popular mobile messaging platform MXit (as well as other chat services), tutors give kids help understanding math. For many kids in South Africa, Dr. Math represents the best access they have to a trained math tutor, as many teachers at schools are severely under-qualified. As the service is only available using mobile phones, the BOBs link directs you to an overview of how Dr. Math works.

LaporSuap is about raising social pressure on corrupt public institutions. The site was created and run by volunteers and anti-corruption activists who are members of the GECKO! community. LaporSuap documents bribery by letting users anonymously report acts of bribery that occurred in public institutions. LaporSuap uses the data to calculate the total amount of bribes received by individuals in the institutions.

Laws must be interpreted and not only lawyers should be able to do it – that’s the starting point for the author of Saber Derecho. The very interesting and fresh blog of a lawyer who explains legal issues in a clear way without dumbing them down.