Save the Children and the Cardano Foundation Collaborate to Explore the use of Blockchain in Rwanda
Written by @ElliotHill at the Cardano Foundation
The Cardano Foundation and Save the Children, one of the largest international non-profit organizations (NPO) for children, is actively exploring ways to use Cardano and the ada digital currency for the benefit of their humanitarian initiatives in East Africa.
To be revealed at the IOHK Africa Show, Save the Children will install a payment gateway to accept ada donations directly, without intermediaries. The Cardano Foundation, the non-profit arm of one of the largest blockchain ecosystems, will work with Save the Children’s team in Rwanda to identify areas where blockchain technology could advance its missions, especially those associated with its Kumwe Hub.
The Kumwe Hub, which means ‘Together’ in Kinyarwanda, is an African-based Impact Innovation Hub that allows Save the Children’s country offices to better engage with the technology and business sectors; amplifying impact for children and families in education, health, and protection.
Eva Oberholzer, Chief Growth Officer at the Cardano Foundation, says:
“Since the launch of Cardano’s unique proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, we have achieved a major milestone of US$500 million delegated ada to mission-driven stake pools. We are excited about the great interest from charitable organisations to explore using Cardano and ada in their donation model. Save the Children is the first official NPO to do so, and we warmly welcome them to our ecosystem. Integrations and collaborations such as these are crucial if we are to pave the way for mass adoption of blockchain technology in the future, one of the mandates of the Cardano Foundation and a vision for our entire ecosystem.”
The integration, made possible through COTI’s ADApay gateway, will be one of the first times that an international NPO can receive and hold ada donations without the necessity to first convert into fiat currencies—a major milestone for the future of ada as a functional digital currency.
Katherine Uwimana, Kumwe Hub, Save the Children says:
“Save the Children are delighted to welcome this partnership with Cardano. Together we are ensuring blockchain solutions and the benefits associated with decentralized infrastructure are being leveraged for the good of children and families in Rwanda and across East Africa. From investing in local entrepreneurs who are tackling youth unemployment, to digitalizing school records for refugee children crossing borders, our aim is to maximize and direct new technologies to solve some of the biggest problems facing children in Africa today.”
In late March 2021, the Cardano Foundation announced that over US$500 million was being delegated to community-led mission-driven stake pools on the Cardano network, making the ecosystem one of the largest decentralized donations platforms in the world.
Since this announcement, a further US$270 million has flowed to mission driven pools, and charities such as Save the Children are set to become the key beneficiaries of this initiative. The Cardano Foundation welcomes any charitable organization exploring the use of ada and Cardano to enter our ecosystem.
To learn more about the collaboration between the Cardano Foundation and Save the Children, tune in to IOHK’s Africa Show on the 29 April 2021, at 16:30 UTC. For those looking to support Save the Children’s work in East Africa with an ada donation, please follow this link: ADA Pay.
About Save the Children: Save the Children is the world’s biggest independent children’s rights charity. Their work saves and improves children’s lives around the world, ensuring millions of children have healthcare, food and shelter, as well as learning and child protection services when they need it most. Save the Children are committed to helping all children achieve their full potential by ensuring they grow up healthy, receive a good education, and stay safe. In Rwanda some of this work involves supporting refugees from Burundi and the DRC, providing quality education opportunities for children through literacy outreach and improving newborn health outcomes by training community health workers.