[blockquote right=”pull-right”] [/blockquote] Today at Lion Center in the Gardens at Sheraton Hotel, young people from around the world, along with innovators, developers, partners and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) experts are gathering for a 72 hours hackathon in teams of approximately 6 members, alongside mentors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), UN partners, Reach a hand Uganda, UN Pulse Lab and Makerere University Resilient Africa Network. The #HackForYouth is a collaborative event where participants are developing mobile app solutions that promote young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Unlike other hackathones that have taken place in Uganda, this particular Hackathone is made up of Young People from every world region (Uganda, Mali, Madagascar, Zambia,USA, Denmark ,Taiwan and many other parts of the world , alongside mentors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Using methods drawn from design thinking and creative problem solving, the hackathon is encouraging participants to think outside-the-box and design unconventional mobile health (mHealth) solutions. The hackathon is following principles of “user-centered design”, actively engaging young people in the development of solutions that are based on their real needs and experiences. [blockquote]
.@PulseLabKampala at #HackforYouth: #BigData fills gaps by counting those who might not be counted in official stats pic.twitter.com/TrqnfZWqtk — Davide Piga (@pdavide) July 21, 2015
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One of the hacking teams brainstorming the challenges they feel they should design for. #HackForYouth pic.twitter.com/y1mpkfFj0c
— Paul Ampurire (@TheJuneKid) July 21, 2015
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The hackathon is sponsored by UNFPA’s Innovation Fund, in a bid to respond to growing commitment to leverage information and communication technologies to empower young people, complimenting UNFPA’s ongoing work and empowering young leaders so they can be pivotal agents for the health and wealth of society.
During three days of designing and developing, the hackathon will conclude with a pitch session, where an expert panel of judges from different parts of the world will select the winning app prototype(s) at an awarding ceremony on Thursday July 23.
You can join the event remotely through a live stream here or following on twitter with the hashtag #HackForYouth.
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