from SAMBULO DLAMINI in Mbabane, Eswatinii
Eswatini Bureau
MBABANE, (CAJ News) – THE Red Cross, the largest humanitarian agency in the world, has digitalised its services in Eswatini, the last remaining absolute monarch in Africa.
It has aborted paper-based and semi-digital methods, which often resulted in operational delays and increased the risk of errors in the country formerly known as Swaziland.
By so-doing, the Eswatini Red Cross Society is seen as a trailblazer in delivering emergency cash assistance.
The local Red Cross recently undertook the digital maturity assessment to determine the status of its digital processes, data use and decision-making in emergencies.
The European Union (EU) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) funded the process.
Jointly, they lamented that traditional approaches hampered transparent and efficient tracking of transactions, highlighting the need for improved accountability and oversight in financial processes.
They stated this week that identifying these gaps, the digital maturity assessment recommended the integration of a data-powered system to remove these blockers to effective cash assistance, after which the National Society explored solutions and decided to pilot the 121 Platform.
“A user-friendly tool to centralise the cash assistance process, 121 is easy, safe and fast to use – making its introduction a game-changer in the National Society’s operations.”
Providing data in real-time, the new system eliminates concerns over using manual data processes potentially leading to incorrect payments. Offline validation features allow data collection even in remote areas.
“As a direct result of the digital maturity assessment, the gradual digitalisation of cash assistance in Eswatini has highlighted how aligning digital tools with operational processes is crucial for successful adoption,” EU and the Red Cross stated.
Eswatini Red Cross Society aims to fully digitise its cash assistance programmes in the landlocked country by 2026.
– CAJ News