The U.S. Department of State's MapGive hosted a "mapathon" with its Participatory Mapping Partnership Africa Hub as part of our public diplomacy initiative to engage individuals to map in support of humanitarian and development efforts - it took place on April 13th from 09:00-11:00 am eastern time/ 06:00-08:00 pacific time / 16:00-18:00 pm East Africa Time.

This event is a collaboration with MapUganda, Digital Data Divide, the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and various YouthMappers chapters, to bring people together worldwide to map communities affected by flooding in Uganda. The data created from this effort will be open-source and then used to support local development and humanitarian aid efforts in the region.

- Participants heard from various government officials, open mapping experts, and student leaders about why and how open mapping, and this specific effort, can make an important difference.

- Participants had the option to join breakout rooms designed for new/beginner or intermediate/advanced mappers and will have time to receive training, ask questions, and map together.

TIMED AGENDA
00:00 - Welcome from MapGive!
08:05 - Opening Remarks
14:00 - Why Mapping Matters & Today’s Mapping Task
29:47 - MapGive’s Participatory Mapping Partnerships
34:00 - USC: Mapathons as Public Diplomacy
36:25 - Registration & Training
54:33 - Mapping
1:06:00 - Conclusion & What's Next