Date:24/02/21

First hackathon on gender equality held in Azerbaijan

An online hackathon on gender equality was held for the first time in Azerbaijan with the support of the European Union, co-organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs and the Public Association Regional Development.
 
The hackathon was organized within the framework of the "EU 4 Gender Equality: Together Against Gender Stereotypes and Gender-Based Violence" programme, and implemented jointly by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The competition was attended by 16 teams consisting of 64 technology lovers from Baku and the regions.
 
The opening ceremony, which took place online, was attended by Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Bahar Muradova, head of UNFPA’s Country Office in Azerbaijan Farid Babayev, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elmir Velizade, members of the jury and participating teams .An opportunity was created for members of the public to watch the event live on social networks.
 
In her opening remarks, Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs Bahar Muradova said that in order to ensure equal participation and representation of men and women in all levels of society and government, it is necessary to find new and innovative ways to combat gender discrimination and violence against women. "I think that the gender equality hackathon is a clear example of the excellent cooperation of relevant government bodies, international organizations and civil society institutions in this area and will allow young people, especially students, to compete in this important area and contribute to addressing current problems with the implementation of state-of-the-art technologies," she said.
 
Head of the UNFPA’s Country Office in Azerbaijan Farid Babayev emphasized in his speech that in the context of the pandemic, life is rapidly digitalizing, and technology and innovation have never been so relevant in the field of ensuring gender equality and combating gender-based violence. "By better integrating new approaches and finding innovative solutions, indirect causes of gender inequality can be eliminated, including attainment of gender equality goals – one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals," he stated.
 
Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elmir Velizade noted that the hackathon on gender equality, held for the first time in Azerbaijan, is a good opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities and potential of youth in the field of information and communication technologies. According to him, businesswomen leading various companies in the field of ICT today can also be an encouraging example for hackathon participants.
 
Then, the jury members spoke and gave their recommendations to the teams, and the names of the participating teams were announced, after which the hackathon was launched.
 
Over the course of 48 hours, teams working intensively on technological solutions to address gender inequality developed many prototypes and open source solutions. Throughout the hackathon, teams competed to find solutions to issues such as tackling violence against women, preventing son preference and undervaluing of girls, promoting responsible fatherhood, combating gender stereotypes in career choices, and achieving gender equality in the distribution of household chores.
 
Upon expiration of the time allotted for the teams, 16 projects on innovative solutions in the field of gender equality were presented, and based on the scores given by the jury members, the top three teams were determined. The team Stockfish took first place with a prototype mobile app that provides women victims of domestic violence with access to shelter and related resources. The second place was taken by the team 3x + y. The website they created called "We exist!" makes it easy to connect victims of domestic violence, as well as people with various types of domestic problems, with professional psychologists. Third place went to the team Laws and Bytes with an educational interactive game about gender stereotypes Man vs Woman. According to the terms of the competition, the winner of the first place received 5,000 AZN, the second – 3,000 AZN, and the third – 1,000 AZN.













 
 

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