Piloting Digital Cash and Voucher Assistance in one of the world’s most remote environments
The origins and rationale for the UnBlocked Cash pilot project in Papua New Guinea.
By Shreeju Shrestha, Oxfam Global Humanitarian Team
The origins of the pilot project
Heavy rain in early April 2020 caused floods and landslides in several highland provinces in the remote center of Papua New Guinea (PNG), including the Eastern Highland Province. About 700 people were directly affected by these floods, which damaged and destroyed their houses and gardens. As an immediate response to this, Oxfam in PNG rolled out its support by distributing in-kind assistance — non-food items such as jerry cans, tarpaulins, hygiene items and kitchen sets to the affected people. Because of the remoteness of the affected communities, access is difficult and limited and was further challenged by the flooding and damage to roads. The Oxfam team has continued to explore additional ways of adequately supporting the affected population, which led to the design and piloting of a cash and voucher assistance (CVA)program to assist affected families — still struggling months later — to meet their immediate food and basic needs in a dignified manner.
Drawing from the learning and experience of the Oxfam in Vanuatu team, who delivered the world’s first blockchain-enabled, digital CVA program in the region, Oxfam in PNG has begun piloting two new approaches: its first cash and voucher assistance program, weaving in digital delivery and innovation using the UnBlocked Cash Project. The digital technology used in this solution offers major value in enhancing the humanitarian reach and access to remote communities where the program would be deployed. In addition, this pilot has now expanded the reach of The UnBlocked Cash Project to two Pacific Island nations.
Objectives of the pilot project
The pilot project covers the four communities of Goroka, in Eastern Highland Province: Zogi, Nupaha, Marasin Bridge, and Matehau, and aims to distribute electronic vouchers (e-vouchers) to 77 targeted families (485 people)who were directly affected by the floods of April 2020. In addition, 7 local shops (vendors) have been identified in the communities where beneficiaries can make their purchases, ensuring the funds provided are re-channeled into the community economy.
Beneficiaries criteria included families whose houses and gardens suffered destruction (partial or complete), or who were displaced due to complete house destruction; as well as people with disabilities and families with female head of households (main decision-maker and main economic provider).
The main objectives of the Pilot Project are to (a) test the viability of CVA as a response modality for emergencies in Papua New Guinea, and (b) test the functionality of the UnBlocked Cash solution to meet the food and basic needs by utilizing blockchain-powered e-vouchers.
The blockchain-based solution was selected due to similarities in the remote nature of the operating contexts in PNG and Vanuatu (where the solution serves over 4,000 families), and because the digital nature of the solution automates some of the more complex aspects of delivering cash and vouchers, including automated monitoring and transaction tracking, easy registration on a smartphone or tablet, automatic reconciliation, and the use of e-voucher cards, which are safer to handle than cash, and well-suited to families that struggle with financial inclusion and literacy.
The specific objectives are:
- To increase knowledge and capacity of Oxfam in PNG staff in designing, implementing, and monitoring cash and voucher programs for emergency responses;
- Decrease capacity and learning barriers through a Pacific-adapted solution that allows staff to easily learn and navigate the technology, train others on its use, and how to deliver and successfully complete pilot activities as planned;
- Assess whether beneficiaries and vendors are successfully able to use the technology in the highlands environment of PNG, where internet is intermittent, and mobile phone ownership is low;
- Improve access to immediate food and basic needs for vulnerable households affected in Goroka District;
- Allow faster, more transparent, and less costly delivery of assistance to affected populations compared to delivery of in-kind assistance (NFIs);
- Ensure that humanitarian assistance supports the local market economy
The pilot project is providing beneficiaries a one-time transfer of 300 Kina ($84.50 USD) onto their e-vouchers. The transaction period — when people can spend their vouchers at any vendor in the network — is one month from the date of registration. People can use their cards repeatedly, for as small or as large a transaction as they’d like.
Digital revolution
The field rollout of the pilot began on February 17th with the first distribution of e-vouchers, including the demonstration of how to use the cards, which enabled beneficiaries to initiate their shopping at the nearest vendors’ shops. Prior to this date, the participating vendors were provided their mobile devices and also received training in processing e-voucher transactions. A dedicated Oxfam team in PNG has been providing support to beneficiaries and vendors to accommodate the smooth user experience.
Christina Asizo was the first beneficiary to use her e-voucher to purchase goods for her family. She made her purchase and transacted with Noah, one of the vendors in the pilot. Both Christina and Noah were excited about participating in the pilot and happy with how easy it has been to make the transaction.
With that, Christina, Noah, and the Oxfam team made history, with the first ever blockchain transaction to purchase goods in Papua New Guinea.
This marks a momentous step in the digital revolution in this Pacific nation, with Oxfam extending frontier technologies such as blockchain, tokenized humanitarian aid, and digital currencies, to reach the most vulnerable population in what is arguable one of the world’s most remote locations.
