Pasos Libres’ technological innovation competition “DataJam Pasos Libres” was awarded an honorable mention at the National Contest of Good Practices for Addressing Child Sexual Exploitation organized by the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, the Organization of Ibero-American States, and the Colombian Ministry of Labor.
The contest was held to commemorate the third year of implementation of the Public Policy for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Sexual Exploitation 2018 – 2028, an instrument that guides the Colombian state’s efforts to prevent, control, and prosecution the issue. The contest brought together thirty-eight initiatives from public institutions, civil society organizations, academia, international cooperation, and companies evaluated by an organizing committee and invited entities such as the Government of Cundinamarca and the Attorney General’s Office.
The evaluation process resulted in the selection of four winning initiatives and an honorable mention. The award to the DataJam Pasos Libres was given in recognition of its importance in addressing issues related to CSEC, such as human trafficking and forced labor. Additionally, the jury emphasized the initiative’s innovative nature, highlighting that it is established as a benchmark for how technology can contribute to preventing incredibly complex rights violations such as CSEC.
For Pasos Libres, the honorable mention is a distinction of the 4-year history of the initiative, which in 2020 became the first international competition on modern slavery.
About DataJam Pasos Libres
The DataJam Pasos Libres is an international technological competition against modern slavery and an alternative learning scenario to educate the next generation of citizens capable of disrupting human trafficking and forced labor through innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology. The competition was created in partnership with IBM in 2018 and has been supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Labour Organization, Traffik Analysis Hub, Verité, Walk Free, The Future Society, the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, The Responsible and Ethical Private Sector Coalition against Trafficking (RESPECT), One Young World, Stop the Traffik, among others.
Pasos Libres has run four competitions bringing together 525 participants, 78 experts, and 19 partners, creating 12 exceptional winning solutions and 77 prototypes. The DataJam Pasos Libres has permanently evolved to provide an exceptional experience to participants, mentors, and partners and cover new topics, languages, and geographics. Since 2018 Pasos Libres and its partners have run two Colombian-wide competitions in 2018 and 2019 and two internationals in 2020 and 2021. In close collaboration with local and international partners, the competition format has also been successfully replicated in São Paulo, Brazil in 2018, New Jersey, the United States in 2019, and Canada in 2021.
