UN Women Zimbabwe is looking for innovative solutions to persistent societal and economic challenges that are disrupting participation of women in decisions that affect their lives. As such UN Women Zimbabwe aims to support an ideathon that is expected to result in a viable and workable web-based platform that facilitates access to information as well as the engagement of women and girls with both elected officials as well as decision-making processes.
This year marks 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action set out how to remove the systemic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of life, whether in public or in private. Despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for most women and girls in the world.
Generation Equality campaign brings together different stakeholders to address the underlying challenges in making gender equality a lived reality for all women and girls. This is a vision of a more prosperous, peaceful, and fair world that is ultimately better for both women and men alike.
Women and girls in Zimbabwe are least likely to be able to exercise their SRHR due to a combination of factors that include lack of knowledge and information. Other factors that contribute to women and girls lack of participation in decision-making include limited human and financial resources to reach and include wider segments of the population in consultative processes as well as fewer opportunities to meaningfully engage the duty-bearers through a range of actions to strengthen their application of the gender equality and women’s rights provisions in the Constitution.
What UN hopes to achieve:
- Provide a platform for solution providers to gather ideas and collaborate in increasing access to information by vulnerable women and girls;
- Harmonize communication, advocacy, innovation, and knowledge management and build lasting strategies in connecting women and girls to decision-making processes;
- Analyze relevant trends in innovation, related to ending violence against women and girls and develop a platform to reach and include wider segments of the population in consultative processes.
How can you take part?
Applications are open to media, bloggers, information experts and innovators who are keen to create multiple interactive web-based platforms for widening the spaces through which women and girls, especially those who are not within close proximity to Parliament, can contribute to consultations on the development of laws and policies that impact on their lives.
Participants are expected to take part in an ideathon that will facilitate virtual collaboration and through a 3-day event where participants take a closer look at complex issues and aim to connect them to cutting-edge technologies and creative solutions. Effectively, participants from different areas of expertise can also collaborate in teams to find innovative solutions to specific challenges under expert supervision in a limited timeframe. During the ideathon, participants will aim to develop viable ideas into actual products or prototypes.
A jury will select a winning idea that will be contracted based on the results of the ideathon and provide the winner with a grant to further develop the idea in consultation with the UN Women Zimbabwe and mentorship by a consultant.
The winning projects will be selected on the basis of innovative strength, effectiveness, originality, multiplier strength and user-friendliness in promoting women and girl’s participation through digital and technological means that will contribute to ending violence against women and girls in Zimbabwe.
Application process
To participate in the Generation Equality Ideathon, simply complete the application form here, available on indicating precisely what the details of your solution and what your innovation will accomplish. The participating ideas will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Ability of the proposed solution to reach and include wider segments of the population in consultative processes
- Effectiveness of the web-based platform to facilitate women and girls access to information.
- Innovations and originality of the proposed solution to improve the implementation and monitoring of laws and policies.
- The possibility of the innovation to be replicated using available technology,
- Effectiveness and user-friendly including appropriate technology that is easy to use and free for all.
The deadline for submission of the application is Friday, August 7th, 2020.
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Still believe the UN and its sub-bodies have good intentions for humanity? Do your research. . .