A mobile application by Amnesty International designed to protect human rights activists has been nominated for the Global Impact award.
Known as the Panic Button, the app lets activists contact key contacts if they find themselves in an emergency, and also updates on their whereabouts every five minutes.
“Our goal is to create an app that will turn a mobile phone into a personal ‘emergency beacon’,” said Tanya O’Carroll, Amnesty International’s technology and human rights project officer.
The Panic Button will be vying with ten other finalists for £750,000 development grant offered by Google.
The judging panel for the event will include Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson and the World Wide Web’s inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who will choose three winners, with the public choosing the fourth.
Amnesty International worked in conjunction with IT Company Thoughtworks to come up with the prototype application on Android.
The app was tested in Nairobi by human activists drawn from all over the world, who thought it was a vital tool for individuals in danger – especially women.
“Women often face violence and if they were provided with this tool it could be a saviour for them,” said one Ugandan woman human rights activist.
