Oct 2022: Loud arguments, quiet revolution and persistent myth

[ssandino]

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Loud arguments, quiet revolution and persistent myth

Stats from our financial transparency page:

(since March 2020)

• 130 people donated USD 123,512
• 1,352 mobile money payments made
• Contributions originated from 15 countries

Hacking for humanity

We were part of Hacktoberfest, a month-long celebration of open-source projects for which developers contribute code from all over the world. In this context we also were featured on the Github Social Impact blog and introduced as a digital volunteer opportunity.

Why don’t you show more photos on your website?

This is a question we get often. The answer is that we prefer to avoid the imagery typically employed by NGOs working in Africa that can potentially fuel negative stereotypes of the continent. We have decided to focus instead on rational arguments, facts and evidence.

Debunk a myth

Talk to ten people about Social Income and someone will inevitably argue that direct cash transfers could potentially add to inflation. Well, it doesn’t, as we learn with evidence from our friends at GiveDirectly: Across randomized villages in rural Kenya the local economy grew by 240%, but resulted in less than 1% price inflation, after 10,500 poor households received cash transfers of about USD 1,000. As it stands now, inflation in Sierra Leone this year is already a staggering 28%.

Full stack developer with soccer skills

Allow me to introduce you to Thomas Brenner, the newest member of the Social Income team. The full stack developer joined our Social Coding Night in Zurich and has already taken on the rather complex task of allowing contributors to generate contribution confirmations for tax authorities on the fly. We’ll launch the feature soon.

A quiet revolution

Almost unnoticed by the general public and media, the US government demonstrates the incredible power of direct cash. The Child Tax Credit supports up to 90% of US children and youth up to 18 years old with monthly financial supplements of up to $300 per child. The effects are astonishing: child poverty rate fell by 25 percent in the first month of the program.

Utilize your commute time

I commute 30 minutes to work every day. I will admit that I have actually come to enjoy these quiet moments before the office storm breaks out, and it is thanks to these moments of reflection that I have time for podcasts. My latest discovery is one on UBI and social protection systems. It talks frankly about the affordability and feasibility of UBI.

Connecting the dots

What is the connection between UBI and a variety of social issues such as gender, race, democracy and health? Tough question. Stanford University tries to answer this with a visual overview of UBI research, as well as listing 30+ guaranteed income pilots across the United States in a user-friendly dashboard.

A plan to grow 1 million trees

Freetown just won a C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for its innovative and impactful climate solution called Freetown the Treetown. Congratulations! In short, the city plants, grows and tracks 1 million trees.

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