This is something to watch. The cynic in me says this is about creating more political pressure from refugees on world governments as the flow of migrants will increase in coming years.
Kind of like those detainees with their digital agitation from inside the camps to keep up political pressure on Australia, see earlier post.
And, it is about Mastercard getting in on the ground level for the redistribution of wealth from the first world to the third world. Already there are plans to send money directly to refugees (maybe more than plans) and how handy would it be to do it through a credit card.
Forget the humanitarian mumbo-jumbo….
The refugee industry is a big (global) business!
Refugee camps will become digital communities says FinExtra.
Mastercard and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced the launch of a public-private coalition that will bring together technology, solutions and experience from multiple sectors to transform refugee settlements into digitally-connected communities. This commitment delivers on a vision laid out in research conducted last year by Mastercard to better understand the critical needs of the over seven million refugees living in camps or settlements today.
The coalition, led by Mastercard and USAID’s Power Africa initiative, will launch pilot programs during the first half of 2018 to address some of the biggest barriers to development. For example, mobile phone and internet access is as critical to refugees’ safety and security as food, shelter and water. The organizations will work together to introduce internet and mobile connectivity, access to clean, efficient energy, and digital financial tools for communities in Kenya and Uganda, with plans to scale to other refugee-hosting countries around the world.
In addition to Mastercard and Power Africa, organizations participating in the coalition include: Accenture, Acumen, BRCK, Danish Refugee Council, Energy Peace Partners, Fenix International, GSMA, The Innovation Village, Lutheran World Federation, Mercy Corps, Microsoft, Moving Energy Initiative, NetHope, Norwegian Refugee Council, Off-Grid Electric, Pawame, PowerGen Renewable Energy, SolarKiosk, Tent Foundation, USAID Global Development Lab, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Vecna Cares Charitable Trusts, and World Vision.
Much more here.
It is brilliant actually. The globalists all get to make money (cheap labor, etc.), destroy national sovereignty around the world, and wear the white hat of humanitarianism while they do it!