UNDP Empowers Young People Through IT: Fergana Youth Hackathon

May 1, 2024

On 26-28 April 2024 Youth Hackathon took place in Fergana with the support of UNDP and in partnership with Khokimiyat of Ferghana region, Fergana IT Park, Fergana branch of Agency for the Youth Affairs, and others. The event brought together more than 120 young individuals aged 18-30, forming more than 40 diverse teams. Together, they focused on the development of digital platforms and tools designed to offer skills training, educational resources, creative employment solutions, and innovative ideas to support entrepreneurial and business endeavors.

The aim of this Hackathon was to engage young people in exploring solutions to addressing unemployment challenges and navigating the competitive labor market and supporting the entrepreneurship in the Fergana Valley using modern approaches and digital technologies. The participants of the Hackathon after 72 hours of joint work presented their innovative products, such as providing safe building systems, offering cybersecurity services for businesses, special electronic book systems for persons with vision impairment, innovative ways of learning languages within communities, and others.

Educational session familiarizing young people with the SDGs took place on the sidelines of the Hackathon, contributing to the better understanding of young people's role in resolving issues related to employment, poverty reduction, and decreasing social gaps, inequality, and leaving no one behind. Moreover, the hackathon concluded with a job fair that presented the participants with job opportunities in IT.

This event was a part of UNDP’s priority activities in the Fergana Valley, with a strong emphasis on youth and women empowerment. It aimed to complement and synergize with the national efforts in the country in the priority areas pertaining the youth set out in important government agendas such as "Uzbekistan-2030" strategy and the State programme on the "Year of Support for Youth and Business”.

This event was made possible through the generous financial contribution of Denmark, Luxembourg, the Republic of South Korea, and Sweden, through UNDP's Funding Windows.

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