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Hackathon to design technical solutions to help combat sexual violence in conflict. 

As part of the Fringe at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, the FCO is working with the Dutch Embassy in London, MakeSense and Chayn to host an End Sexual Violence in Conflict Hack event, or “hackathon”. This will bring together coders and developers to produce digital tools supporting the 4 aims of the summit:

• To improve investigations/documentation of sexual violence in conflict;
• To provide greater support and assistance and reparation for survivors, including child survivors, of sexual violence;
• To ensure sexual and gender based violence responses and the promotion of gender equality are fully integrated in all peace and security efforts, including security and justice sector reform; and
• To improve international strategic co-ordination.

Over 3 days, competitors at the hackathon will work with experts on sexual violence in conflict, including survivors, NGO representatives and diplomats, to generate ideas for the most useful technical solutions. They will then work in teams to turn these into prototypes to present to a high-profile judging panel.

This is the second hackathon hosted by the FCO, following one in January 2014 which produced apps including a heatmap analysing the UK’s international relations, and an android application providing customizable alerts from the FCO travel alert page. Outside the FCO, the government called on the tech industry to use flood data as part of the recent #Floodhack, organised by Tech City UK to aid public responses to flooding in the UK. Other examples of tools which have emerged from hackathons include the Facebook “Like” button and Chat function, which emerged from an internal company hackathon.

Visit the End Sexual Violence in Conflict Hack website to find out more about the hackathon, and to apply to participate. Or if you’re attending the Fringe, please visit the hackathon area to see the competitors in action.