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Rory Daniels

Rory Daniels

MSc Global Politics student at the London School of Economics and Political Science,

Achieving social justice through blockchain technology

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Submitted by Rory Daniels
on Mon, 18/11/2019 - 08:19
BTC Keychain, 2014.
Both start-ups and large organisations looking to tackle global poverty are discovering the incredible potential of blockchain technology. A brief look at some notable projects highlight just how quickly the sector is set to evolve. What is social justice? Strongly interwoven with the concept of social protection is that of social justice. This is because every person looking to avoid or escape from poverty is essentially seeking a just world – A world in which every human has an equal chance of health and happiness. Achieving this outcome, however, has historically been far from straightforward. The individuals most prone to poverty are often those with the lowest levels of educational attainment, the most restricted access to collateral assets, and the least...Read more

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The pros and cons of blockchain in social assistance

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Submitted by Rory Daniels
on Mon, 07/10/2019 - 07:57
Wikimedia Commons, mobile payment method
Social assistance is undergoing an upgrade. Traditional practices are being replaced by a more secure and cost-effective system: Blockchain. However, with virtually no proven track record in the public or humanitarian sphere, the success of this technology is far from guaranteed. The unique properties of blockchain technology As explained in an earlier blog post , blockchain technology acts as a digital database, storing a record of every transaction carried out on the network for all users to see. Unlike traditional databases that are typically used in the humanitarian sphere, these are permanent (meaning nobody can delete or hide the record of previous transactions) and distributed (being stored on multiple computers, or ‘nodes’, and not just one) (...Read more

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How blockchain technology is distributing aid to Jordan

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Submitted by Rory Daniels
on Mon, 19/08/2019 - 11:17
Zaatari Refugee camp in Jordan
The way organisations are delivering social assistance is changing. Payments are now digital, with refugees undergoing iris scanning for access to virtual wallets. After numerous trials, the blockchain technology behind these innovations has allowed the World Food Programme to more effectively distribute cash-based assistance to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees (Juskalian, 2018). The question is: Will this be the predominant method of social assistance in the coming decades? Blockchain technology As the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) offers assistance to over 90 million people across 83 countries every year (World Food Programme, 2018). Traditionally, social assistance has always been distributed by hand,...Read more

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Meeting the Social Assistance Demands of an Increasingly Vulnerable World

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Submitted by Rory Daniels
on Mon, 10/06/2019 - 13:32
Women Receiving Social Assistance
Globalisation and climate change are exposing the world’s most vulnerable to more frequent and intense risks and shocks. Conflict, poverty and famine are inducing unprecedented mass migration. Inequality is increasingly globally. The poor and vulnerable are encountering increasing challenges, preventing them from escaping poverty. The question is: Can social assistance programmes expand quickly and wide enough to compensate for these challenges? Demand for assistance is high Social assistance programmes encompass cash transfers, in-kind transfers (like seeds and medicines), and near cash benefits (such as food vouchers), and are implemented in countries the world over (World Bank, 2019). Cash transfer programmes are a prominent approach: Cash is transferred to poor...Read more

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