UNDP Technology for Citizen Engagement Challenge

UNDP Technology for Citizen Engagement Challenge
‘Raik Shino’?
1. Description (max. 600 words)
Ten years after the signing of the Peace Agreement ending Sudan’s second civil war in 2005, Sudan is still
marked by conflict which negatively impacts daily lives and overall development. The volatile and
restrictive political environment is limiting the space for people to freely discuss a common vision for the
future of Sudan. Lack of access to information and information-sharing is a big issue for people in Sudan,
and is limiting the development of new solutions to peace and development. Numerous stakeholders are
engaged in peacebuilding, but they lack opportunities for sharing knowledge and identifying best
practices.
‘Raik Shino’ is Sudanese slang for ’What do you think’. The idea behind the platform is to provide a forum
for people to creatively interact and discuss the future of Sudan through a gamified dialogue process.
Gaming is used to engage a broader set of stakeholders normally excluded by more traditional
approaches, and encourage participation through a depoliticized process. Ideas proposed on Raik Shino
will for each game be analyzed and shared with relevant stakeholders and participants, and feed into
offline dialogues, including the Sudan 2030 visioning exercise, the Peace Ambassadors network working
at the community-level in close collaboration with the State-level peace building mechanisms, and
Sudanese academia.
The targeted users are Sudanese peacebuilders based in conflict-affected communities. The platform will
be accessible on standard browsers through mobile devices, tablets, and computers, requiring low
bandwidth, and be user-friendly for the non-technology savvy. Participants in areas with limited internet
access will be able to post their opinions through SMS or voice message, or at locations such as community
centers with computers to minimize the inequality of access.
Challenges will be formulated offline with representative platform users, and challenges will be launched
on the platform for participants to discuss and solve together. Participants will vote on the ideas proposed
and those who get more points will get more power with their votes and move up the ‘influencer’
hierarchy. The main game dynamic is quantification of the feedback mechanics and the high-score. Each
game will run for 4-6 weeks, and each winner will receive a prize. Throughout the game, different
moderation techniques will be used, i.e. posing questions to proposed ideas, introducing potential
spoilers, trends and scoring updates, or offline contacting contributors to encourage participation.
The platform will offer a safe space to discuss and reflect in an open manner, but in a closed online
environment as login and a game profile name will be required. This initiative will benefit peacebuilding
from a critical reflection on past experiences and exploration of more innovative approaches by a broad
range of participants. Based on the success of introducing futures thinking for common visioning in Sudan
by UNDP Sudan, a futures thinking approach will be added to the formulation of the challenges for
participants to explore common visioning for Sudan.
Once the platform has been successfully tested in Sudan, this could easily be replicated in other Arabicspeaking countries. This would give participants an opportunity to broaden their network among
peacebuilding stakeholders and learn from other contexts. The platform will provide opportunity for
dialogue and learning for peacebuilders in conflict-affected areas. The first phase will aim at local
community-based actors, limiting government participation to state-level peacebuilding mechanisms,
with the hope to scale-up participation to national level actors as the platform matures.
Our theory of change is: IF the online dialogue can promote active participation by community
peacebuilders, THEN national peace capacities will be strengthened and a peacebuilding network
promoted across sub-national and national levels. Users will enhance their critical thinking ability and
together identify new ways of working on peacebuilding. The team behind the platform will work to
support that ideas developed online will feed into offline activities. The offline forums to develop the
challenges will also ensure a strong linkage with peacebuilding on the ground.
2. User Personas (max. 150 words each)
Persona 1
Name
Hamdi Omer Shigafa Boshara
Age
36
Type
Teacher in North Abyie Area (Diffra)
Essential Characteristics
Low Income
Goals
Assist my communities to live in peaceful
coexistence with less violent conflict, particularly
with Dinka Nock.
Limited communication means (Internet network
not available all the time).
I only have a phone, not a personal computer.
I live in a small village.
It could be a bridge to overcome and discuss our
difference ethnic problems.
He has a Samsung smart phone (S Duos 2) and he is
using mostly mobile apps. Hamdi Omer would be
able to participate in the dialogue using the mobile
access to post solutions and interact with other
community peacebuilders.
Obstacles / Pain Points
How can your prototype help?
Most important feature
Persona 2
Name
Jawahir Komondan
Age
25
Type
Peace Ambassador in Baw Locality in Blue Nile State
Essential Characteristics
Low Income, Driven but disconnected from
professional peers
“I need more information about how other
peacebuilders are working.”
“I want to gain more skills to engage with the
different communities more effectively.”
“I want my voice to be heard.”
“Communities who do not know me do not trust or
respect me.”
“I only have a phone, not a personal computer.”
“I live in a small town and do not have the means to
travel to meet with communities in my region on a
regular basis.”
- Exchange information and opinions with other
peacebuilders and collaboratively develop solutions
and approaches.
- Know people from different communities
beyond her local area
- Enrich her peacebuilding activities
The ability to share information and knowledge with
actors beyond her community will be very important
for Jawahir. The gamified aspect will appeal to her
and allow her to further develop her community
theatre and acting skills.
Goals
Obstacles / Pain Points
How can your prototype help?
Most important feature
3. Community Engagement (max. 300 words)
Peace Ambassadors are working at the community-level in each target state: South and West
Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei Area, in close collaboration with the respective State-level peace
building mechanisms. Two representatives of the Peace Ambassadors (one male and one female)
will be selected to be part of the design phase in the target users group. In the Darfur Region,
two youth volunteers and community peacebuilders will be identified to join the group.
Peacebuilding professors or senior students from two universities (University of Khartoum and
Al Salam University, West Kordofan State) will also be invited to join the design group. The group
members will be carefully selected taking into consideration age, gender, tribal affiliation and
accessibility to internet/smart phones/mobile phone. Group members with no access to these
devices will also be consulted to ensure inclusivity.
When the first prototype is ready, the target group will be invited to Khartoum to test the
prototype and provide feedback. Each target group member will then lead the testing of the
second prototype in their respective States involving more community peacebuilders for further
iteration.
Furthermore, the UNDP Sudan team in close collaboration with the universities will work on
providing an offline method to use the platform in university course modules.
Once the platform has been piloted for community peacebuilders in the target areas, the Peace
Innovation Hub under the University of Khartoum will broaden the user group to include
nationwide community peacebuilders. Furthermore, the UNDP Sudan team will support the
Peace Innovation Hub in the identification of one or more UNDP Country Offices among the Arab
States with an interest of using the platform and developing an exchange with Sudanese youth.
4. The Team (max. 450 words)
Anne Kahl: Team Leader
Anne is working on conflict management and peacebuilding at the UNDP. Anne is currently heading the
Analysis and Capacity Development Unit of the UNDP/IOM Joint Peace Building Programme in Sudan.
-
Provide overall supervision to project implementation and technical advice to strategic
project planning and moderation of ongoing platform games;
Design a scaling-up plan and establish contact with other UNDP Country Offices and
regional stakeholders
Margunn Indreboe Alshaikh: Strategic Partnership and Communication Advisor
Margunn has over 10 years of experience working in the field of crisis mapping and conflict analysis, policy
research, innovation and communications. She currently heads the Partnerships & Communications Unit
for UNDP Sudan.
-
Provide overall guidance to the project implementation, strategic communication and
outreach;
Build partnership with relevant partners, including sponsors for prizes
Yumiko Shinya: Dialogue Design Coordinator
Yumiko has been involved in development and peacebuilding in Africa and Asia, and currently works for
the Joint Conflict Reduction Programme (JCRP), UNDP Sudan.
-
Develop challenges with the users group representatives;
Ensure linkages with offline activities of relevant stakeholders;
Closely work with the Platform Administrator, Community Coordinator and Platform
Developer
Ali Ibrahim: Platform Administrator
Ali is an Economics and Political Sciences major, and has been working with different NGOs in the field of
development for over five years. He recently worked as a consultant for UNDP Sudan’s foresight project.
-
Undertake design research;
Facilitate communication among the team members and co-designers;
Manage the platform and encourage participation by the users;
Engage with users and co-designers for feedback and updates;
Monitor the platform to avoid misusage of the platform, hacking, or trolls
Almutaz Angabo: Community Coordinator
Almutaz, specialized in MBA-Information System, has been working for conflict issues with NGOs and UN
Agencies for six years. He is currently working with the JCRP.
-
Main focal point for communication and interaction with community stakeholder;
-
Work on the linkages between the online proposed ideas and the offline responses;
Liaise with other peacebuilding activities in the target areas.
Peace Innovation Hub and Peace Research Institute, University of Khartoum and Peace
Research Center, Al Salam University: Co-designers/users
- Be part of prototype testing with university students
- Oversee the dialogue process during competitions
- Launch dialogue platform within their universities for students
- In case of scaling-up of the platform, Peace Innovation Hub could host the platform
through self-funded or with limited financial support from UNDP Sudan
10 Peace Ambassadors and youth volunteers: Co-designers/users
- Get involved in design research in their communities in each state/area
- Test prototypes among themselves and in their communities
- Act as a focal person of the platform in each state/area
Serious Games Interactive: Platform developer
- Develop the platform according to the requirements identified by the co-designers team
- Test the first prototype with co-designers group in Khartoum
- Improve the first prototype and continue iterating
- Conduct ToT for the use of the platform and content management system
5. Draft Prototype
6. Budget
Please provide an outline of the budget using the following table:
Activity
Intended result of Deliverable
Responsible
Location
activity
(what will be person/partner activity
produced as a (if known)
result of the
activity)
Proposed
budget
(US$)
Development of
platform
Fully functioning
online dialogue
platform
Dialogue
platform
of Timeframe:
Indicate
the
month/year
that
the
activity
will
take place
Denmark/Sudan April – July
USD
25.000
(covered
by
JCRP/UNDP
Sudan)
Design phase and
development of
challenges
User-friendly
platform and game
ready to be
launched, including
formulation of
challenges for the
first rounds of the
dialogue
Final prototype
Project Team +
of dialogue game co-designers
ready
Sudan
May – August
USD 2.000
15 persons
trained in the
use of the
platform and
facilitation of
Khartoum,
Sudan
August
USD 2.500
Training for users
Training of main
and key focal points user group and
focal points in each
State
Serious Games
Project Team +
Serious Games
dialogue
processes
Outreach of
dialogue platform
within Sudan
Communication
material and
strategy developed,
partnerships
established with
key community
peacebuilders and
other relevant
stakeholders.
Communication
material and
partnerships
agreements
Project Team
Sudan
July-August
USD 2.000
Customization of
platform to include
more than one
challenge/country
per game
Dialogue platform
can run a challenge
across various
countries in the
Arab region
Dialogue
platform
customized to
expand to
several countries
Project Team +
Serious Games
Denmark/Sudan AugustSeptember
USD 1.500
Outreach of
dialogue platform
to other countries
in the Arab States
region
Communication
material and
strategy developed,
partnerships
established with
key community
peacebuilding
organizations.
Dialogue game
Project Team
initiated
including
participants from
at least two Arab
States, including
Sudan.
Sudan/Amman
USD 2.000
TOTAL
September –
December
USD
10.000
7. In-kind Contributions
Once your concept goes back onto Mahallae, members of the public will be able to endorse it,
ask questions, provide comments and offer in kind resources. Use the table below to indicate
the resources you would like to request from your community, up to a maximum of 6 different
items.
Resource
Prizes for prizewinners (communication
devices, mobile credit, training opportunities)
Volunteers to test platform (based in Arab
States, Arabic speakers)
Graphic designers for development of
communication
material,
including
infographic with result of each dialogue game
Illustrators to develop logo for the gaming
dialogue platform and images of future visions
developed through the games
Quantity
10
5
2
1
8. Sustainability (max. 300 words)
After having invested in the development of the online dialogue platform, the costs related to
the running of the platform will be very low, limited to hosting of platform etc. The platform will
be self-sustained by having the Peace Innovation Hub, established in the Peace Research
Institute, University of Khartoum, taking the lead and having ownership of the platform and
running the challenges to feed into their work on support societal dialogue on the future of Sudan
in addition to their promotion of the Sudanese peacebuilding network. The initial phase will test
and showcase how the platform can promote a more inclusive dialogue process in Sudan.
Furthermore, the platform could be used in a creative way, such as a part of university modules
and training opportunities, for a stimulation of community dialogue, or a tool for international
exchange. The gamified platform can be used without giving prizes for the purpose of dialogue.
However, at the same time, UNDP Sudan will facilitate for the Peace Innovation Hub to find
partnership with different stakeholders who could be potential contributors for prizes and who
are interested in broadening the outreach of the platform.