We’ve responded to one-off crises since 2017, building tools to send emergency cash that have improved all our programs. That track record – combined with growing mobile phone coverage and new tech capabilities – convinced us there’s a big opportunity to improve crisis responses for people in need.
So this year, we went for it, starting on a moonshot bet that could radically improve the systems meant to support people in crises.
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Families have used GiveDirectly’s emergency cash to buy food, relocate to safety, repair homes, & restock shops – all before any other aid has even reached them. The UN’s own humanitarian leaders have said there’s no reason more humanitarian shouldn’t look like this, asking donors to fund cash “‘not incrementally, but ambitiously.”
Our moonshot: build a five-day global emergency cash system
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Our plan: testing, scaling, and influencing over 5 years
We’re not going to flip a switch overnight; we’re building this system in stages.
From the article:
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