Save the Children and Fedi Announce First-of-its-Kind Collaboration Aimed at Revolutionising Cash Assistance Through Bitcoin

FAIRFIELD, 30 July 2024 – Global humanitarian organisation Save the Children and Fedi, Inc., a developer of global bitcoin adoption technology, announced today a groundbreaking collaboration aimed at revolutionising cash and voucher assistance (CVA) delivery to communities most impacted by inequality.  

This joint initiative with Fedi will launch in the Philippines and provide select communities with bitcoin as part of community cash assistance via the Fedi mobile app. With the benefits of bitcoin—including speed, lower transaction costs, and decentralised distribution of digital funds—communities will be empowered to determine for themselves the best use of their funds for immediate and long-term needs.

Through the programme, members of the community will learn more the basics of bitcoin and how to use the Fedi mobile app to transact in bitcoin and exchange it for local currency when necessary. Central to the pilot is the ability for programme participants to make peer-to-peer bitcoin transfers optimised for faster, low-fee transactions. The pilot will also explore the potential of community-secured wallets to promote financial inclusion, digital literacy, and economic empowerment through self-custody. Save the Children and the communities it works with will be able to take ownership of bitcoin and hold it or share it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   

Ettore Rossetti, Head Advisor, Emerging Technology, Marketing, and Innovation Partnerships at Save the Children, said:

“Around the world, children’s futures are at risk. Save the Children believes that bitcoin and the blockchain can be a force for good and for economic inclusion. We are tremendously excited about this collaboration with Fedi, and the potential to reinvent the way in which children and families with limited resources can increase their digital and financial literacy, lift themselves out of poverty and ultimately shape their own futures.”    

Cash assistance is one of the best evidenced tools to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, allowing families to determine how best to respond to shocks and crisis. Providing cash for basic needs supports local markets, increases access to education, health, and protection services, while having been demonstrated to reduce reliance on child labour, increase dietary diversity, strengthen local livelihoods, and improve family wellbeing.

In 2022, $7.9 billion dollars was transferred as cash or vouchers to crisis-affected people – a 41 % increase from the year before – which amounted to 21% of international assistance, up from 7% in 2017, according to The State of the World’s Cash report by the CALP Network. 

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent children’s organisation in cash transfers. The organisation has delivered over $600 million directly into the hands of families and communities since 2018, in the most complex humanitarian crises in the world.

The programme will also explore ways to increase transparency and accountability in the donation process by direct tracking from donor to programme participant. This innovative approach could transform the way humanitarian assistance is received and delivered, eventually leading to greater impact and resilience for impoverished and disenfranchised populations around the world. 

Fedi cofounder and CEO Obi Nwosu, said:

“Fedi aims to bring freedom technologies, financial inclusion, and digital empowerment to people throughout the Global South. Save the Children has been serving those same communities for a century, and in recent years have had the vision to see how bitcoin and other freedom technologies can help them reach even more people. We are grateful they chose us to be partnering with them on this innovative project and we are eager to show the world how we can empower these communities together.” 

This project will allow Save the Children to test digital and mobile money solutions with the intention of incorporating bitcoin into Save the Children’s global cash transfer programmes.  As the first international NGO to accept a bitcoin donation in 2013 in response to Typhoon Haiyan, which struck Southeast Asia and devastated the Philippines, Save the Children is a 105-year-old organisation committed to pioneering innovative approaches that will equip our next generation with the tools, technology, and education required to thrive in an increasingly interconnected, digital, and inequitable world.  

Save the Children has been working in the Philippines since 1981 with programmes in humanitarian response, health and nutrition, education, and children's rights and protection. 

About Save the Children 

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we've been advocating for the rights of children worldwide. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming the future we share. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. To support Save the Children’s mission with bitcoin, please donate at www.savethechildren.org/bitcoin.  

About Fedi, Inc. 

Fedi Inc. leverages Freedom Technology, such as bitcoin, to empower communities, particularly in the Global South. Fedi offers a solution that seamlessly integrates humans and technology, making it fast, affordable, and accessible through a network of trusted individuals worldwide. The Fedi Superapp combines chat, money, and more into a single Community Superapp, run by and for communities and their members. We connect the most fundamental human technology — community — with freedom technologies to elevate humanity. Follow us at X and Nostr. Learn more about Fedi at fedi.xyz. 

Media Contacts: 

Media spokespeople available, please contact Ruby Wright, Global Media Manager, ruby.wright@savethechildren.org.

For outside of working hours (BST) requests please contact: media@savethechildren.org.uk or +44(0)7831 650409.