How the Best NGOs Are Leveraging Blockchain

October 10, 2024
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Learn how NGOs like the Red Cross and UNICEF are using blockchain to boost transparency, efficiency, and impact in their global humanitarian efforts.

What do the Red Cross, UNICEF, World Wildlife Fund, and World Food Programme all have in common? Besides being globally-recognised impact-driven NGOs, they’re all leveraging the power of blockchain to increase their impact.

So, you might be asking, ‘Wen UNICEF Coin? Wen WWF Token?’ Hold your horses, captain.

By now you’ll know we’re not here to speculate on crypto coins or other degenerate blockchain topics like NFTs or the latest DeFi trend. While these topics deserve discussion, we’re here to discuss blockchain and its real-world use cases for NGOs.

From digital IDs and verifiable employee credentials, to transparent crypto donations and sustainable supply-chain insights, ‘Wen UNICEF coin?’ might not seem so crazy after all.

In this article, we’ll delve into how the world’s most recognisable NGOs are blurring the lines between crypto and buzzy blockchain trends to reveal a theme of transparency, accountability and efficiency.


Table of Contents


The World Food Programme (WFP): Digital IDs & Efficient Aid Delivery

Digital IDs are something you’ll be hearing a lot about in the coming years (and often coupled with a healthy dose of Orwellian skepticism!).

While this skepticism makes sense for those privileged enough to ponder it, for others, like the thousands of refugees in Jordan’s Azraq refugee camp, their identity concerns take on a totally different meaning.

The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) is an early adopter of blockchain and digital IDs, with their Building Blocks providing undocumented refugees with a digital identity and enabling them to access basic services and financial systems.

The project allows Syrian refugees to cash in food vouchers at the supermarket by staring into a retina scanner with the transactions being recorded on a private Ethereum-based blockchain, called Building Blocks.

WIRED’s Jesse Hempel touches on why blockchain might make the banks shift in their seats, adding: “Because blockchain eliminates the need for WFP to pay banks to facilitate transactions, Building Blocks could save the WFP as much as $150,000 each month in bank fees in Jordan alone.”

The WFP project is not only helping ensure everyone gets fed, but it helped to prevent fraudulent claims and, importantly, slashed operational costs — establishing the project as a great example of how NGOs can use blockchain to efficiently provide aid assistance.

The Red Cross: Crypto Spurs Economic Development in Cash-Strapped, Disaster-Prone Communities

The Red Cross societies of Norway, Denmark, and Kenya have launched a groundbreaking two-year blockchain initiative to tackle the cash scarcity issue in Kenya’s impoverished rural and urban areas.

At first, this might be a little hard to understand if you’re sitting in a developed country. These impoverished communities have a variety of goods and services to offer (sell). However, the lack of sufficient cash within the community often stifles the motivation to produce more.

While bartering works for some transactions, keeping track of paper debts and obligations is complicated and inefficient. Similarly, village savings and loan groups often rely on inefficient and complicated manual recording methods like paper slips stored in secured boxes.

The Red Cross payment solution, which is reminiscent of Kenya’s beloved M-Pesa mobile payment app, allows (crypto) credits to be paid to villagers’ mobile phones in exchange for goods or labour, with the credits then being able to be spent on local goods and services.

Tested successfully in Kenya and Ethiopia, it’s set to expand, potentially reaching over 320,000 users in other developing countries, thereby spurring economic activity and community development.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF): Sustainable, Transparent Supply Chains

Global supply chains are intricate and sprawling, involving countless producers, processors, and importers. The opaque nature of these chains can not only jeopardise a company’s reputation but can also pose safety risks to consumers.

We would like to think that modern slavery is a thing of the past, that our food is safe to eat, and that our rainforests weren’t being decimated at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, a glimpse into our supply chains might reveal otherwise.

Times are changing and there is a demand for more environmentally-sustainable practices and transparency into how things are done are. The EU’s latest Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is one such initiative that is accelerating this transparency, putting a legal requirement on over 50,000 businesses to report on such issues.

The WWF launched a revolutionary digital platform called OpenSC that uses blockchain and other technologies to track food and products.

WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini sees this solution as “a game-changer, massively increasing transparency and accountability.” Blockchain applications like OpenSC and sustainability initiatives like the CSRD have the power to herald a new era of supply chain transparency.

The WWF OpenSC platform is just one of many supply chain transparency solutions that are leaning on blockchain to help people (and businesses) to avoid illegal, environmentally damaging, and/or unethical goods.

Save the Children: Crypto Donations & Humanitarian Passports

Satoshi would tip his hat to Save the Children, not just because of their noble mission and impact, but as a crypto pioneer who was the first major NGO to accept Bitcoin donations, an initiative launched in response to Typhoon Haiyan back in 2013.

Not only were they an early adopter, but they’ve raised over $7 million in crypto funds for some of the world’s most vulnerable groups, like children fleeing conflicts in Ukraine and Afghanistan, families suffering from the hunger crisis in countries like Somalia, and for those impacted by climate disasters like Hurricane Ian in the United States.

Beyond raising funds for those most in need, the concept of a “humanitarian passport” for emergency responders is also raising eyebrows:

“If you think of doctors in a particular conflict zone, or an education specialist in an emergency, you are faced with two choices: if you don’t know anything about those people is either accept and trust them – and you’re potentially putting children at danger by not having those checks done – or go through a checking process, which could take several weeks for a disclosure and barring (DBS) check to come back,” says Save the Children’s Karl Hoods.

Hoods imagines an approved register of people who have been pre-vetted, with their identity and qualifications registered on a blockchain so they could reliably be called upon in an emergency. This register could ultimately reduce the risk to the children who are already in need.

UNICEF: Really Walking The Blockchain Talk

Innovation is key to UNICEF’s goal of enhancing the well-being of children worldwide, and with a 75 year history spanning over 190 countries, this NGO knows what they’re talking about.

And, with a whole website section dedicated to blockchain applications accelerating impact, UNICEF has identified blockchain as having potential benefits in three major ways:

  • Leveraging innovative financing models to distribute resources
  • Increasing the efficiency and transparency of internal processes
  • Incentivising and encouraging the creation of open-source digital public goods

Let’s take a look at UNICEF’s blockchain projects that are embodying these benefits.

UNICEF CryptoFund: Putting Their Money Where Their Mouth Is

In 2019, UNICEF announced the launch of the UNICEF CryptoFund, which allows the organisation to receive, hold, and distribute donations in cryptocurrency.

The CryptoFund is a pooled fund of Bitcoin and Ethereum with a shared public record of crypto transfers that creates visibility for the donor and the public, adding a layer of transparent accounting to the donation and investment processes.

In UNICEF’s own words, the prototype fund allows the organisation to explore the use of digital currencies and what it means to operate in a digitally-financed future. Slow nod of respect.

UNICEF Ventures: Verifiable Certificates & Credentials

Kazakhstan is no stranger to natural disasters: from floods to earthquakes and wildfires, the country has a need for effective emergency response systems.

In 2019, UNICEF Kazakhstan and local emergency and disaster response agencies held an eye-opening training seminar where they tested drone operators’ emergency response capabilities.

As a result, four companies showcased their capabilities, with each receiving a UNICEF Kazakhstan verified certificate that was registered on the (public) Ethereum blockchain.

Similar to the Red Cross’s Humanitarian Passport concept, these blockchain-registered certificates allow the certified drone operators to share and verify their qualifications without the usual bureaucratic headaches.

Taking this a step further, awards and other unique credentials could be accredited to various entities or people, leading to manual processes like engaging service providers or dispersing payments being automated using smart contracts.

UNICEF’s Digicus: Transparent & Efficient Operations

In their commitment to the mission, UNICEF’s Digicus project explores how blockchain and smart contracts can provide transparency into how they are spending funds (whilst also increasing internal efficiencies in the process — bonus points!).

The initial prototype consisted of digitising a currently manual process between UNICEF Kazakhstan and its partners.

The platform consolidated UNICEF’s agreements with its implementing partners as smart contracts (self-executing digitised rulesets) on the blockchain so when the appropriate approvals were received for a milestone, the corresponding funding amount would be automatically released to the partner.

This digitised process can provide transparency into spending, whilst also decreasing bank transaction fees, reducing time spent for spot-checks, and improving efficiency in dealing with partners.

UNICEF’s Atrium: Enabling Blockchain Collaboration Across the UN

The Atrium project is like a greenhouse for blockchain innovation within the UN. It’s designed to cut through red tape and foster collaboration among UN agencies, providing a sandbox environment to experiment with blockchain applications.

Think of it as an incubator for ideas, where participants can test new concepts in a safe, private, and permissioned blockchain space. Much like how an actual atrium shelters plants, this initiative nurtures innovative ideas.

The Atrium has three main components: a treasure trove of learning resources to kickstart an agency’s blockchain journey; a showcase of blockchain-based applications developed within the UN, complete with project overviews and contact details; and a buzzing community forum for engaging with fellow UN innovators.

It’s the perfect ecosystem for growth and collaboration. Time to BUIDL?

UNICEF Launches NFT Collection to Fund Internet for Schools

On the eve of UNICEF’s 75th anniversary, the UN children’s agency took a chance on the innovative fundraising potential of blockchain, launching the UN’s first line of digital tokens (NFTs).

The project aimed to raise funds by selling 1,000 NFTs, with the funding seeking to connect 1 million schools to the internet. Proceeds from the sale went to UNICEF’s Global Office of Innovation and the Giga initiative, which had already connected over 3,000 schools.

The NFTs were called “Patchwork Kingdoms,” and each NFT depicted data from over 280,000 schools across 21 countries, illustrating the growing network of connected schools.

This project not only showcased the fundraising potential of NFTs, but it introduced a novel way to support education, engaging NFT owners (project supporters) with a visual snapshot of Giga’s progress and impact in real-time.

Blockchain & NGOs: In Conclusion

If you’ve made it this far, first of all, well done, but second, it should be clear that blockchain is transforming the way NGOs operate, offering innovation, transparency, efficiency, and accountability — all valuable attributes for anyone sitting at the NGO roundtable.

The Red Cross, UNICEF, WWF, and the World Food Programme are at the forefront of this shift, grabbing blockchain by the horns and using it to improve fundraising, streamline processes, and ensure aid reaches those who need it most.

From digital IDs for refugees to transparent donation tracking, sustainable supply chains, and smart contract efficiencies, blockchain is becoming an important ally for NGOs taking on global challenges.


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