President Macron Could Leverage Blockchain to Transform Lebanon Aid

Israeli blockchain startup Orbs has published an open letter to French President, Emmanuel Macron. This letter promotes the use of blockchain technology to manage foreign aid following the tragic explosion in Beirut on August 4.

Blockchain’s transparency and accountability could help reassure both private donors and governments that the financial aid they provide is being deployed effectively, it says.

Catastrophic events such as those in Lebanon tend to spur pledges of much needed humanitarian aid from around the world.

President Macron of Lebanese former colonial power, France, wasted no time in visiting the area and urging world leaders to accelerate aid packages to provide timely relief. However he also noted the need to ensure aid went to legitimate groups working on the ground and didn’t end up in the hands of Hezbollah.

Sadly, history provides us with a litany of cases in which well-intentioned aid is not put to the best use.

Of course, blockchain has the unique ability to enable multiple parties who don’t necessarily trust each other to work together in a transparent manner.

To this end, Orbs has been working with the Hexa Foundation to promote the potential benefits of blockchain technology in managing and distributing foreign aid to various governments and organisations. It has even built a prototype, which it says can be developed to create a fully customizable solution.

As Cointelegraph reported, earlier this year Orbs developed an app encouraging people to self-quarantine as the COVID-19 pandemic started to take hold.