The Next Generation Humanitarian Distributed Platform
A proposal to advance the relief and development sector through enhanced collaboration and improved transparency
The authors of this report, Mercy Corps, the Danish Red Cross and hiveonline, call for the development of a shared, sector-wide “blockchain for good” to allow the aid sector to better automate and track processes in real-time, and maintain secure records. This would help modernise and coordinate the sector to reach more people as increasing threats such as pandemics, climate change and natural disasters require aid to be disbursed faster, more widely and efficiently.
A cross-sector blockchain platform – a digital database that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralised, publicly accessible network – could support applications ranging from cash and voucher distribution to identity services, natural capital and carbon tracking, and donor engagement.
The report authors call for the creation of a committee to develop cross-sector governance and coordinate the implementation of a shared “Humanitarian Distributed Platform.” The authors believe the technology can help organisations fulfil commitments made to transparency, collaboration and efficiency under the Humanitarian Grand Bargain.
The report is compiled from responses of 35 survey participants, representing stakeholders in the humanitarian sector, including NGO project implementers, consultants, blockchain developers, academics, and founders. A further 39 direct interviews took place over the course of the research between July and September 2020.
