Stellar collaborates with UNHCR to provide funds via USDC to Ukrainian refugees.

One recent initiative aims to assist Ukrainian refugees who lack access to banks, while someone else aims to streamline global Red Cross initiatives. Blockchain technology is increasingly employed by humanitarian organizations to address issues with insufficient identification authentication or a shortage of banking in undeveloped or war-torn countries.

In December, 2 additional initiatives were unveiled, one of which aims to continue providing cash aid to Ukrainian refugees via the Stellar network and the other of which aims to do the same using the Partisia network. However, previous blockchain initiatives have had considerable results. With certain projects, recipients have been able to avoid red tape and receive the assistance they require, but with others, the usage of blockchain has shown to be unnecessary.

Over December 15, Stellar Development Foundation made the announcement that it had partnered with the UNHCR to distribute USD Coin (USDC) on the Stellar system as a form of financial aid to Ukrainian refugees. Any MoneyGram station will accept the USDC tokens for redemption. The program's developers believe that even if migrants lack bank balances or are unable to use the ones they do have, it will be simpler for them to get aid as a result.

According to Tori Samples, Assistant Product Manager at Stellar Aid, “the complete solution becomes relevant and available for persons residing in crisis” by working with Moneygram for cash-out and Circle's USDC digital dollar.

“This product was specifically designed to meet the needs of aid organizations delivering assistance in difficult environments. It can't be experimental or not hold up to real-world use. Donor dollars are some of the most scrutinized in the entire world. The fact that some of the largest aid organizations are using Stellar Aid Assist today in Ukraine shows that it has real-world value and the potential to scale.”

In conjunction with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Partisia Blockchain Foundation conducted a “hackathon” on December 2 earlier in the month (ICRC). The goal of the conference would have been to identify the ways in which Red Cross payments for humanitarian help may be made more effectively by means of the Partisia system.

HUMANITARIAN BLOCKCHAIN

Although these efforts to use blockchain are commendable, the industry has a troubled past. Investigators from the Digital Humanitarian Network looked at past efforts to use blockchain for the advantage of assistance users in their article Humanitarian Blockchain: Inventory and Recommendations, published in August 2022. They discovered that although blockchain did improve some companies' ability to give aid better effectively, in plenty of other situations the innovation had to be abandoned since it didn't bring value.

It used Building Blocks, a blockchain project launched by the World Food Programme (WFG), as an illustration of a productive undertaking. Duplicative help, or several relief services giving the same aid to the same people, was the issue that it sought to address.

However, after seeing that blockchain didn't further its objectives, the 121-group alliance that launched Direct Cash Aid was forced to discontinue the initiative. Direct Cash Aid aimed to assist beneficiaries in Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, and the Netherlands who were unable to create their own evidence of existence by using a blockchain-based self-sovereign identity (SSI).

After testing with SSI, the program's managers discovered that the majority of users lacked smartphones and couldn't access the internet quickly enough. Many assistance organizations also refused to work together or had doubts about the identification verification services provided by other groups. The SSIs produced by the program “proven to currently have no value” as a result. The project's blockchain components were ultimately dropped in favor of more centralized identity verification techniques.

As a reminder, WikiBit is ready to help you search the qualifications and reputation of projects in a bid to protect you from hidden dangers in this risky industry!

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