Start Network tests blockchain technology for foreign aid distribution

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

The project aims to speed up the distribution of aid funding and trace how it is spent, ultimately enabling every pound to be traced from the original donor to each individual assisted. Start Network and Disberse hope that it will enable more money within the international aid system to reach the people it is intended to help, with the flow of funding monitored at every stage, and less lost through the process of currency exchange.

The Disberse platform has been designed to limit aid  losses and has already been piloted in a development project, which enabled UK-based charity Positive Women to reduce its transfer fees and trace the flow of funds down the chain to a project in Swaziland. The project saw funds sent from the UK to four Swazi schools via a local NGO and resulted in zero losses at the points of delivery. The saving enabled Positive Women to fund an additional three students’ fees for a year.

Source: UK Fundraising (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Technology
Tags
blockchain, global development, social enterprise