The campaign which brought together people of various ages and backgrounds, who were all inspired by activism and altruism, proved that the youth, civil society and business sector can work together to generate new ideas and solution to combat violence against women and girls.
A 48-hour Hackathon in Sarajevo brought gender and tech experts together with youth from all around the country to generate new tech solutions to combat violence against women and girls. Throughout 16 Days of Activism, UN Women reached out to the youth in Bosnia and Herzegovina, asking them to generate ideas for technology solutions that would help prevention of violence against women and girls.
At two ideation processes, called Ideathons, young women and men suggested 17 ideas that included tech tools such as mobile apps, web platforms, interactive chats, QR technology, wearable gadgets and mobile games that would tackle this widespread problem. The six most potent ideas were chosen to be further developed at a 48-hour Hackathon under the guidance of IT and gender equality experts.
Thirty-five young women and men of various ages from different parts of the country arrived at the capital on 7 December, excited to contribute to the Hackathon with their skills and knowledge.
Ideas included a safety map of city zones that helps users make informed choices about their movement based on an area’s safety score, a bracelet that allows the wearer to send his or her location to an emergency contact if they feel unsafe, a quiz that familiarizes the user about various forms of violence and how to recognize the signs of abuse and where to seek help; an electronic matrix to report peer violence in high schools, a mobile application to support online counselling through real time chat and a web platform for reporting sexual harassment through social media.
The apps were judged based on impact, quality of the product, sustainability, and presentation.
The teams that won the first prize will receive support from UN Women to develop their ideas. The other teams expressed their wish to continue working on their solutions with mentorship from the IT sector.
Read more on unwomen.org.
