UNHCR Launches Blockchain Payment Solution to Support Ukrainians Displaced by War – Featured Bitcoin News

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently said it has launched a blockchain payment solution for digital cash distribution to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. According to the agency, the use of the blockchain-based cash distribution system ensures that the funds are immediately transferred to the intended recipients.

Only ‘Most Affected and Vulnerable People’ qualify

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), an organization supporting the growth of the Stellar blockchain, announced on December 15 the launch of a “blockchain payment solution for digital cash distribution to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other war-affected people in Ukraine.”

In a statement, the agency said it, along with the United Nations International Data Center (UNICC), had become the first “to pilot the new Stellar-based aid disbursement solution.” Hailing the pilot phase, which was designed specifically for Ukraine, UNHCR said that using this system ensures that the funds reach the intended beneficiaries.

As part of the scheme, eligible Ukrainians are set to receive donated funds in the form of USDC stablecoin. Recipients can either choose to store the funds in their Vibrant wallet or withdraw money at any global Moneygram location. Recipients can also do this at “over 4,500 Moneygram locations in Ukraine.”

While there are plans to expand the program to more Ukrainian cities, the statement mentioned only three cities: Kyiv, Lviv and Vinnytsia that are currently participating. The expected beneficiaries of the pilot include “people who are most affected and vulnerable because of the war.”

Pilot program said likely to ‘strengthen humanitarian efforts’

Commenting on the agency’s cash distribution pilot program, Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR’s representative in Ukraine, said:

“Ukraine is a global leader in the development of technical solutions to increase access to social protection, including assistance to displaced persons. Across the world, UNHCR has partnered for years with the technology sector, which has played a critical role in helping us innovate to deliver assistance faster, as speed is of the essence in humanitarian efforts. It is also important to give people a range of options for receiving help, as one size does not fit all.”

Denelle Dixon, Executive Director and CEO of the SDF, said the partnership between her organization and UNHCR has pioneered “a new future for the delivery of billions of dollars in aid disbursed annually.” For his part, Oleksandr Bornyakov, the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, claimed that the pilot program is likely to strengthen “humanitarian efforts around the world.”

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwean award-winning journalist, writer and author. He has written extensively about the economic problems in some African countries, as well as how digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.