The first Social Innovation Hackathon in Erbil, Iraq, will take place on 21–22 July organized by Re:Coded, a humanitarian innovation non-profit organization. The event will be supported by IOM, the UN Migration Agency.
The Social Innovation Hackathon will bring together more than 50 local developers, designers, social entrepreneurs, humanitarians and community residents to develop creative technology solutions that address the specific challenges facing refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. These include barriers to education, difficulty accessing the job market and social cohesion between displaced Iraqis and host community members.
Participants are expected to arrive from across northern Iraq, and will include residents of the Qushtapa refugee camp as well as students from the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani.
Since early 2014, over 3.3 million Iraqis have been internally displaced due to conflict, and more than 240,000 Syrian refugees currently live in Iraq. The humanitarian crisis has created many difficulties, disrupting sectors such as education and employment.
The Social Innovation Hackathon is an expression of the belief that the collaborative development of technology-oriented solutions can address these issues. Participants will bring their expertise and collaborate on designing technology-oriented solutions that address the challenges associated with displacement. Participants will be divided into teams of varying skill sets and expertise to generate project ideas around the creation of learning opportunities, improving access to employment and enhancing social cohesion.
Original source: IOM.
Posted on 21 July 2017.
