Organized by the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA) in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Microsoft Qatar, the Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon kicked off in Qatar with the participation of 117 programmers from 17 countries.
The winning teams will have the opportunity to further develop the proposed technology solution with the support of the partners of the hackathon seeking to increase the use of ICT solutions as part of their anti-corruption efforts.
Marking the occasion, Director of Public Relations and Communication Department at ACTA Eid Saeed Al Hajri said that the Arab youths are the focal point of this event as they are the punching force and the youthful brilliant minds that will write the future history, given that their participation in the Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon represents a golden opportunity to learn and develop their skills in fields of integrity, transparency, and anti-corruption, in addition to promoting their technical and social knowledge and develop their leadership capabilities.
He indicated that the event comes within the framework of the ACTA’s efforts and the participation of the UNODC and Microsoft Qatar, which realize the importance of supporting the youths and enabling them in the field of anti-corruption using technology.
He called on all participants to provide innovative and effective solutions to anti-corruption and promote transparency, especially since the youths can alter reality and make the region honest and prosperous, stressing the need for participants to get involved effectively in that collective work as one team to achieve the goals set for that significant event.
For his part, Regional Representative of UNODC Dr. Hatem Fouad Ali valued the launch of this youth initiative which is composed of Arab youth cadres in partnership with the State of Qatar, expressing his happiness at the launch of the “Coding4Integrity” Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon program in Doha.
He added that the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) initiative of UNODC aims to enable youths to learn about the ethics of integrity and anti-corruption and to join global anti-corruption efforts through the active promotion of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which is the only global legally binding anti-corruption document.
He added that the hackathon came to empower more than 17 countries from the Arab world, especially since the participating youths will learn about integrity to develop their culture and knowledge about integrity through this initiative launched by the UNODC, which works to enable young people to support the global regional and national efforts of governments.
He expressed his hope that the hackathon hosted by the State of Qatar would be an opportunity for Arab youths not only to compete in coming up with the most innovations and ways to involve youths in supporting anti-corruption but also to be ambassadors for their countries, becoming bearers of the banner of permanent transparency and culture of accountability in the Arab world as future leaders in the Arab world and their community.
Concluding his speech, Fouad stressed the readiness of the UNODC to continue supporting the State of Qatar in its efforts to implement the UNICAC through activities that are based on the transformative power of education and the meaningful empowerment of youths, expressing his appreciation for the efforts of the ACTA to organize the Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon. (MORE)
Source: Qatar News Agency