by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE rollout of electronic money (e-money) in Somalia is accelerating humanitarian interventions in the crisis-prone country.
The initiative is under the aegis of the Somali Cash Consortium, led by seven relief agencies responding to the ongoing hunger and displacement problems.
Concern Worldwide, which leads the rollout, disclosed the consortium had in just one year sent the equivalent of €7,5 million in digital cash, donated by the European Union (E), to over 17 800 Somali households.
More than 130 500 people have benefitted.
“Families left with nothing have been able to pay for food, water and other basic needs thanks to this cash aid sent digitally on mobile phones,” Richard Nunn, Concern’s Somalia Country Director, said.
He explained that many people in Somalia, as was the trend in the world, had access to phones, which makes it easier for aid organisations locally to reach beneficiaries and send them the support they need if they had access to local markets.
“People who need support are registered so that we can send them the cash they need to survive, which also helps to boost the local economy,” Nunn said in Mogadishu.
Concern Worldwide is Irish-based.
It is estimated that 3,5 million people are displaced in Somalia, largely due to conflict and drought.
Over 1,8 million children under the age of five are facing acute malnutrition, which is life threatening if not treated.
Somalia is a country of 19,5 million people.
– CAJ News