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e-Contego Journal of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Support
March 6, 2012
Dedicated to the global community of peacekeepers and humanitarian aid providers
Failures in Syria Must be Addressed
UNDP’s First-Ever Use of Mobile Money Transfers in Haiti Survivors of the 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti have this week started receiving cash subsidies through the first-ever mobile money transfer system in support of post-disaster housing reconstruction, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported on March 1. More than 2,000 mobile money transfers are planned in the next three months to 1,000 low-income families receiving subsidies totalling $500 to purchase construction materials such as cement, iron and wood at selected project-certified stores. The initiative is part of the ‘Com-
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munity Support Centres for House Repairs,’ a partnership between UNDP and the government of Haiti. Commissioned by UNDP and developed by Digicel, one of the country’s largest cell phone service providers, the mobile telephone cash transfers are helping boost financial inclusion in Haiti, where nearly two-thirds of the population has access to mobile phones, but only 10 per cent have bank accounts. Beneficiaries can also access a mobile phone checking account, which
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently underlined the need for concerted action to end the crisis in Syria, lamenting that the international community has thus far failed in its responsibility to stop the bloodshed in the country, where he said the Government was waging an “atrocious assault” against its own people. “In fact, the actions—indeed, the inaction—of the international community seems to have encouraged the Syrian authorities in their brutal suppression of its citizens,” Ban said as he reported to the General Assembly on the implementation of its 16 February resolution on Syria. That resolution strongly condemned the continued “widespread Continued on Page 4
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