Peace Hackathon

A two days long Peace Hackathon was organized by The Earth Society, in collaboration with UNDP and its Diversity for Peace Program. Among the 150 Peace Ambassadors, the registered ambassadors were able to participate in the Peace Hackathon. More than 10 groups participated in the Program.
The first day of the program was divided into two parts. At the beginning of the peace hackathon, the session speakers gave their valuable ideas on different issues. At first, Sharmin Islam, UNDP Bangladesh's Women Economic Empowerment Specialist, highlighted the role of women in establishing peace and harmony in our society. Moreover, she also highlighted the different interpretations that exist in addressing the diverse population of our society. After that, UNDP Bangladesh Head of Communications Md. Abdul Qayyum spoke on the significance of peaceful communication and how we can unite all the diversity of the society through peaceful communication. Md. Monirul Islam; bpm (bar), ppm (bar), Additional Commissioner of Police, Chief of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Bangladesh Police, Ministry of Home Affairs discussed on the participation of the youth in maintaining peace and harmony. In addition, he discussed how the youths could fight against terrorism and make our country as a secularist country. Lastly, UNDP Bangladesh's PTIB Project Officer Rebecca Sultana discussed with the Peace Ambassadors how they could unite all the diversity of the society through their cooperation and intelligence. Shortly after the speech of the session speakers, the Peace Ambassadors started their first day's activities in 11 groups. On this day, they find out the problems that the diverse people of our society face to maintain peace and harmony among themselves.
On the second day, Peace hackathon activities were again conducted into two parts. At first, peace ambassadors provide solutions to their identified problems through aptitude and innovative thinking. During the two-day event, a full-time facilitator in each team assisted the Peace Ambassadors. As a result, peace ambassadors received not only guidance from moderators but also knowledge on how they could implement their proposed solutions for diverse populations. The facilitators in the Peace Hackathon days are- Siddhartho Goswami, Habibur Rahman Patwari, Rubina Yeasmin, Farhan Ridoy, Rokonnuzaman Sajol, Arup Barua, Abdulla Mohammad Sakib, Shathy Jomoddar, Asad Khan, Imdadul Haque and Sarit Qaium Talukder.
After that in the second phase, a special jury was formed to judge the solutions provided by the ambassadors. The jury board was formed with Hon'ble Member of Parliament Nahim Razzak, Special Correspondent of Ekattar TV, Farzana Rupa; And Robert Stoelman, PTIB Project Manager, UNDP Bangladesh. All the groups present their proposed solutions for the diverse population of our society is well decorated. Throughout their presentation, various issues related to religious extremism and intolerance for different views of our society, various problems of third gender people, increasing harmony among those involved in tourism, coexistence among people of different religious beliefs, etc. have been come out from different perspective.
After that among the eleven groups, the Jury Board members selected four groups as the winning groups. Saifur Rahman of Sylhet Agricultural University, Md. Monir Hossain of Chittagong National University, Shamama Akhter of Barisal University, Tazreen Sultana Putul of Bangladesh University of Professionals, Fahmida Akhter of Kazi Nazrul Islam University and Sarjeel Huda Tahsin of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology were declared as the champions. Collectively, the 1st Runner-up was selected as the "D and H groups". Among the D group participants were Miraj Hawlader of Barisal University, Mallick Mokarrabin Hossain of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman University of Science and Technology, Md. Taifur Rahman of Patuakhali University of Science and Technology, Farzana Farin of Bangladesh University of Professionals and Shakhawat Hossain Shakib of Kazi Nazrul Islam University and among the H group participants were Sharmin Akhter Brishti of Khulna University, Empa Yasmin of Kushtia Islamic University, SM Hafizullah of BUFT and Sajal Rabidas of Jagannath University. The 2nd Runner-up team was selected as "Team-I" where the participants were Irina Tasnim Rupa of Patuakhali University of Science and Technology, Md. Asadul Haque of Hamdard University and Md. Omar Farooq Joy of the National University.
The Champion group was awarded ten thousand (10,000), the 1st Runner up group was awarded five thousand (5,000) and the 2nd Runner up was awarded three thousand (3,000) taka. Certificates were provided among all the participants in Peace Hackathon. Finally, Robert Stoelman, PTIDP Project Manager, UNDP Bangladesh, praised the youth for all the solutions offered and called on them to participate in innovative activities for a more diverse population.