Case Study

Digital Human Rights Innovation Program

StartHub Africa implemented a 15-month long Innovation program on behalf of the DHRLab and GIZ. Goal of the innovation program was to strengthen the human-rights sector in Uganda and to support the implementation of innovative solutions. Interested candidates applied for the program and the most promising 10 ideas were taken through a Design-Thinking phase to further shape and test their ideas. In a following pitch-competition, the best four ideas per round were selected and received award money to implement their ideas.

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Challenge

The Digital Human Rights Lab (DHRLab) and GIZ Uganda aimed to strengthen the human-rights sector in Uganda and support the implementation of innovative solutions. However, they faced the challenge of identifying and selecting the most promising ideas and ensuring the successful implementation of these ideas.

Solution

StartHub Africa implemented a 15-month long Innovation program on behalf of DHRLab and GIZ Uganda. Interested candidates applied for the program, and the most promising 10 ideas were selected and taken through a Design-Thinking phase to further shape and test their ideas. In a following pitch-competition, the best four ideas per round were selected and received award money to implement their ideas. All winning teams received 6 months mentorship and coaching to ensure a successful implementation.

Results

StartHub Africa successfully implemented the program, and 8 amazing teams were awarded and went through the mentorship program. The diverse projects range from a health-care app for the LGBTQ Community, to a fact-check Bot to fight fake-news to Safe Bangle, a device to protect girls from violence. The program design, evaluation of applications, selection of best applications, delivery of design sprint workshops, coaching participants in a 6-month mentorship program, and running marketing and communication campaigns led to the successful implementation of innovative digital solutions to support the human-rights sector in Uganda.