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I worked in humanitarian aid for 5 years as a salesperson and this summer I discovered that the United Nations (our biggest customer) had began what they call the UN Blockchain Initiative. Since then, I've discovered that there are several coins which are attempting to specialize in blockchain for aid, including Humaniq and more recently Aidcoin. Long story short, I was so excited about learning this that I decided to write an article about the UN's use of blockchain for humanitarian aid projects and I wanted to share it here with you guys to get your feedback / opinions.

Do you think that a concentration on these kind of projects should be a focus in the cryptocurrency space? How can we (me and you) as regular folks contribute to this? Is there anyone else here who is similarly excited about such developments as I am? I would love to have an ongoing discussion about this topic here on Bitcointalk.

You can read the full article here (https://cryptocoin.news/news/10-great-examples-of-how-the-un-is-using-blockchain-technology-for-social-good-4846/). Excerpt from the article:

10 Great Examples Of How The UN Is Using Blockchain Technology For Social Good
In December 2016, Yoshiyuki Yamamoto was appointed as a special advisor at the United Nations, initiating the “UN Blockchain initiative”, an interagency effort to utilize blockchain technology to improve the distribution of aid. The initiative includes cooperation with the UN umbrella of agencies, which focuses on the effective use of philanthropic donations. The UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG) promote humanitarian causes, including ‘no poverty’, ‘zero hunger’, and ‘quality education’, among 14 others.

The current initiatives range from proof of concept, events and workshops to investments and publications. UN Women held a blockchain hackathon event, the UNODC held a cryptocurrency-focused train-the-trainers event, the UNDP used blockchain technology to manage UN car fleets and UNICEF has invested more than $11 million into blockchain start-ups. To help us visualize how blockchain technology can be useful, here are some more detailed examples of how it is already being implemented:

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
UNOPS is the organization that launched the UN Blockchain Initiative. It is the operational arm of the UN and so it aims to bring all other UN agencies together in an effort to synergize knowledge, processes and networks to achieve success with blockchain technology. Those who wish to contribute or ask questions are able to do so online by registering to the UN Blockchain Forum.

UN Women
In June 2017, UN Women partnered with Innovation Norway to hold an event in Oslo- a Blockchain Hackathon. 40+ women from around the world participated in the workshop. In addition to an application called VIPI Cash, an app which promotes entrepreneurship among women and permits for secure financial transactions between them, the women produced several other decentralized applications. Another 48-hour hackathon event was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 7th, 2017.

World Food Program (WFP)
The WFP distributed more than $1,000,000 in aid to thousands of Syrian refugees in Zaatari, Jordan. The assignment allowed the refugees to buy food using only the scan of their eye and partnered with Parity, Datarella and Iris Scan technologies. The project, which is called “Building Blocks”, is currently in its ‘Scale Up’ stage, after a successful prototype and pilot stage.

Looks great that they are using the technology not only for sending cash aid. Having the distribution system run via blockchain would definitely reduce wastage and reduces the risk of aid being siphoned off elsewhere. My country was hit by Haiyan and needless to say, the aid that came in was not managed well.

There are stories I have heard of the aid sent in the form of medical equipment laying around for years before being installed. There are procurement units set up centrally because of local corruption. There are so so many ways blockchain technology could improve the process.

For example, counterfeit medicines or theft of medicine can be mitigated by smart contracts. Logistics companies can implement anti-tampering devices, GSM tracking and connect it to a smart contract that only allows the seal to be broken once and by a specific group or person.

There's an ICO coming out called ShipChain which will focus on transport. I guess also IOTA can help and many other companies.

I would love to have the opportunity to use my insights and learnings to consult in such matters. I guess that's why I wrote this article and made this post. Just checking to see if anyone is interested in listening :).

Is there any link or any news about it. Please share it.

Anyways i hope this is true. United nations helped millions of people and with the block chain technology they can elimi atr corruption. Here in my country they have sent million of dollars to help people who were a victim of yolanda( strongeat hurricane recoded recently) but the money to help people was corrupted by politicians.

There is many people who needs aid specially in third world countries anf using block chain will help the people who actually needs it.

It's a good read and it's showing the real-world usage and strength of the blockchain technology.

I think that blockchain on Humanitarian Aid will give people more accountability and this will lead to more donators.
Because currently I can't be sure how and who will use my donation for regions like Africa who are well known for widely spread corruption.