UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week Youth Hackathon 2024

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Apply for Global Media and Information Literacy Week Youth Hackathon. The Youth Hackathon, an integral component of the Global MIL Week, offers a global stage for youth participation and engagement, aiming to harness innovation and youth-led initiatives to respond to the Week’s theme, in particular the growing role of digital content creators and influencers in the information landscape; and the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

The winning teams will be invited to Amman, Jordan, on October 30 and 31 to present their projects during the closing ceremony of the Global MIL Week Feature Conference.

Youth Hackathon Objectives

Empower youth: Provide opportunities for youth to actively engage in shaping the discourse surrounding Media and Information Literacy, fostering a sense of ownership and empowerment.
Foster innovation: Encourage youth to explore innovative solutions to promote public interest information on digital platforms and address challenges related to mis and disinformation, hate speech.
Generate actionable insights: Generate actionable insights and recommendations that can inform policymaking, educational initiative and community-based interventions aimed to enhancing Media and Information Literacy worldwide.

Youth Hackathon Categories

Games
Applications/Websites
Radio Programs/Podcasts
Educational toolkits
Creative community-based interventions (non-technology focused)
Other creative modalities for innovative interventions

Youth Hackathon Theme

Youth Leading the Way – Media and Information Literacy and the New Digital Frontiers of Information

Youth Hackathon Benefits

The winning teams will be invited to Amman, Jordan, on October 30 and 31 to present their projects during the closing ceremony of the Global MIL Week Feature Conference.

Tasks and Challenges

The participants will focus on one of the following topics to design innovative solution and scheme their proposals:

Empowering youth to become active participants in shaping the digital spaces they inhabit, finding ways to promote public interest information rather than passive consumers of information.
Exploring innovative solutions to address the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence.
Exploring receptive and effective approaches to Media and Information Literacy Education and Capacity Building through Peer education and Feeding Education.
Activating Youth Organizations to be agents of change through collaborating with digital content creators.

Eligibility Criteria for Global Media and Information Literacy Week Youth Hackathon

Teams will comprise 3-6 members (ensuring gender parity, teams can be national, regional, or international).
Members must be aged between 18 and 30 years old and adhere to UNESCO’s values such as peace, respect for diversity, freedom of expression.
No previous experience is required.

Youth Hackathon Submission format

Each submission to include a document presenting the solution and a 3-minute video pitch (a creative format is strongly recommended). They must include:

The team composition
Problem statement, objectives, audience, and alignment with this year’s challenges
Explanation of the prototype
Feasibility
Sustainability
Creativity
Deployment strategies / Business model and evidence of market validation