News
Youth Hackathon Winners Celebrated in Paris
The winners of the 2023 Youth Hackathon, coming from Cameroun, Jordan, Nigeria and the Philippines, presented their projects addressing Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in Digital Spaces during UNESCO’s General Conference in Paris.
“We are celebrating tonight your creativity, your innovation, and your ability to think out of the box. You come from different regions of the world, which is what UNESCO is about, and you are the generation that will change the world”, said Mr. Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, when introducing the Youth Hackathon Award Ceremony held at UNESCO’s headquarters on 14 November 2023.
The Youth Hackathon is a key component of Global MIL Week 2023, designed to engage and empower youths. This year, participants were invited to develop projects under the theme “Youth powering media and information literacy in digital spaces”. UNESCO received 95 projects from 40 countries, and an independent jury of 11 MIL experts selected the four winning teams, inviting them to present their project during UNESCO’s General Conference.
Ian Lumanog, a 20 years-old student from the Philippines, spoke about the significance of the award: “This recognition by UNESCO will help us move forward with our project, especially when it comes to mobilizing potential partners or seeking funding”. Lumanog, along with his teammate Charlene Macapagal received the Award in the Mobile Application category for their project MILES, an app targeting youths to enhance their media and information literacy skills through resources, games, events and campaigns.
Saja Sallam, representing Jordan, introduced her project the Youth Media Literacy Ambassadors Program (YMLAP), aimed at “elevating youth media literacy, empowering all generations and fostering digital confidence”. Andre Mpoudi from Cameroun showcased his game, MIL Justice League, through a video message, illustrating how a team of superheroes help citizens find solutions to real-life media-related problems and promote good practices for media and information literate.
Gift Chikere, a poet and dancer from Nigeria, delivered a powerful speech, emphasizing the “potential of art to influence and change minds towards a better use of social media”. Her project “Disagree in Peace” unites artists from different ethnic backgrounds to educate, inform and create awareness about the depth of hate speech and disinformation spreading across social media spaces.
The Youth Hackathon Awards were delivered by Mr. Jelassi and Ms. Sandra Bergqvist, Minister for Youth, Sport and Physical Activity of Finland, who underlined the importance of this year’s theme: “Media and Information Literacy is pivotal in combatting hate speech, disinformation and misinformation, which threaten democratic values, social stability and peace. We need innovative approaches for building competences that help us to navigate in our information- and technology rich world”.&Բ;
During this award ceremony, the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) launched a new online course on media and information literacy, which is now available .
Encouraged by international recognition, the Youth Hackathon winners will continue advancing their projects, guided by Mr. Jelassi’s mottos: “Think big, start small, scale up fast,” and “Dream, believe, achieve”.&Բ;
