http://www.coindesk.com/united-nations-sends-aid-to-10000-syrian-refugees-using-ethereum-blockchain/One of the largest-ever implementations of the ethereum blockchain for a charitable cause has just concluded a successful trial.
Completed on 31st May, the project run by the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) was designed to direct resources to thousands of Syrian refugees by giving them cryptocurrency-based vouchers that could be redeemed in participating markets.
As revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, the platform was successfully used to record and authenticate transfers for about 10,000 individuals. The platform was implemented by Parity Technologies, a startup led by ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and blockchain big data firm Datarella.
Alexandra Alden, a WFP innovation accelerator consultant who helped oversee the implementation, told CoinDesk:
"All funds received by the refuges from WFP were specifically used to purchase food items such as olive oil, pasta and lentils."
The WFP is now in the process of gathering more detailed analytics, such as exactly how many transactions were conducted.
As reported by CoinDesk in early May, the WFP intends to expand the project to include 100,000 individuals in Jordan as soon as August. If that goes according to plan, the effort is set to grow to serve the entire Jordanian refugee population by the end of 2018.
