Think Creative - Issue 5

Dispatches

updates from around our world

Block by Block: Breaking down blockchain and what it could mean for development

Field Notes

Creative Development Lab // Blockchain

m Citizen Security

reactivate its board and write a five-year plan for strategy, resourcemobilization and community engagement. “Where we were when Creative came in, we had a lot of gaps. These are things we are able to do now,” saysMwansa. Better systems, better services ACreative Organizational Capacity Assessment showed growth among these organizations. Ten partner organizations that received training fromCreative increased their capacity by an average of six points, with a notable 38 points gained on average inmonitoring and evaluation. The other community-based organizations that received training fromCreative increased their capacity by an average of 5.2 percent, with 9 percent gained in networking and advocacy. All of this capacity building is paying off in div- idends of smoother programming, better man- agement and healthier children and families. Margaret Malama is one of KAFHI’s many childcare volunteers. Though she has five children of her own from ages 4 to 16, she has taken up the responsibility to ensure that other children in her neighborhood of Matilyo in the Kapiri-Mposhi district are taken care of and have access to education, nutrition and, impor- tantly, health care. Through its work with Creative, KAFHI learned how to develop a community engagement plan tomotivate volunteers likeMalama and other communitymembers to improve the program and better serve those in need. The programalso raised awareness among communitymembers on how to access services, saysMalama. “The neighbors know about this work and come and askme,” she says. “It has also benefitedmy family because I have learnedmore; how to care for our children, prevent HIV, hygiene, educa- tion. I have gained knowledge.” KAFHI Executive Director ObbyMubangwa says that this was part of the appeal in working with the ZAMFAMproject, providing knowl- edge and skills that stand the test of time for families and communities. “We wanted those donors who would factor in the aspect of empowering the family tomorrow. When we are not around, the family should be able to do something for the children in our absence,” he says. As for KAFHI, Mubangwa says that the skills they’ve gained and the systems they’ve intro- duced are also going to stand the test of time. “We are focused. We aremoving,” he says. “Four years fromnow, come to Zambia and see howwe are doing.” n

Alianza Joven Honduras- USAID The first Outreach Center established with support from Creative’s former Alianza Joven Honduras-USAID program celebrated its 10th anniversary. It has connected thousands of children and youth to educational, training and recreation opportunities in Rivera Hernandez, San Pedro Sula and continues to thrive. Guatemala: Communities Building Peace Together A new USAID-funded program in Guatemala will work with citizens in 130 communities of the Western Highlands to identify points of conflict and implement solutions that foster community- led peacebuilding, improve governments’ ability to respond to conflict and strengthen relationships. Countering Violent Extremism West Africa: Partnerships for Peace Partnerships for Peace is working with the G5 Sahel Women’s Platform, composed of members from five West African states, to increase women’s engagement and influence in regional CVE policies and programming interventions. The project is funded by USAID. Electoral Scholarships To strengthen female representation in electoral management, Creative Associates International’s Charito Kruvant Scholarship for Electoral Excellence will be awarded annually to two women pursuing a master’s degree in Electoral Policy and Administration through the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies online.

The word “blockchain” has been buzzing through tech-savvy circles for years, primarily in associa- tion with the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, but it is now growing in awareness among laypeople. Howev- er, few understand blockchain technology and its vast implications for the future—in banking, global development, elections and beyond.  Simply put, blockchain is a digital record book with features built in to keep those records safe.  Breaking down the word itself explains the tech- nology. Each “block” is a package of information, be it the details of a bank transaction, supply chain data or anything else, with its own unique fingerprint. The blocks are then linked to the ones that have come before—creating the “chain.” And because a copy of the original fingerprint is stored in the block before and after it, it is easy to detect when someone has tried to tamper with data.   Another unique aspect of blockchain is that in- stead of information being centralized, like when a bank is the keeper of transaction information and is the only entity that can verify its accuracy, it is distributed among participants. This means that every participant has access to the original in- formation and can confirm that records have not been altered. Such transparency makes it a strong system for combating fraud and corruption.

Many examples illustrate blockchain’s usability in financial transactions, but the technology can be applied to a wide variety of record keeping.   Creative has implemented an innovative “Track and Trace” system to monitor textbook distribu- tion through its USAID-funded Afghan Children Read project. Delivery teams and educators use a mobile application and text messaging tool to confirm the location and delivery of materials at each step of the way, showing where books are going missing. Recognizing the benefits, Creative is updating the system to utilize blockchain. The data collected through this monitoring tool will leverage the technology so that everyone involved—from project staff, to the Ministry of Education, to USAID—can all access it in real time. This will provide a foundation for Creative to utilize blockchain in other ways, such as smart contracts for results-based financing. As understanding of the technology grows, global development practitioners have the opportunity to utilize blockchain’s secure record keeping to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. Stay tuned to learn how Creative is exploring blockchain technology. n

Margaret Malama, who has served as a KAFHI childcare volunteer for more than three years, at home with her own five children and their friends. Inset: From left, KAFHI staff Obby Mubangwa, Eunice Mwansa and Dennis Mubenda.

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Zambia // Zambia Family South Central project Alliance for health

How blockchain technology works in elections

EuniceMwansa has a very challenging job. As ProgramManager for the Kabwe Adventist Family Health Institute (KAFHI), shemust ensure the organization has the systems and resources it needs to improve the lives of 6,000 orphans and vulnerable children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The organization provides free HIV testing for children and their families, health services for those with the virus and counseling. It covers school fees for children whose families cannot afford themand provides goats, chickens and legumes to improve their nutrition and liveli- hoods. And behind all of this is a small teamwith increasingly powerful systems. Just a few years ago, however, KAFHI was struggling tomonitor and evaluate its programs, mobilize resources and plan for the future. “We had noM&E officer, lots of gaps, challenges with resourcemobilization, project proposal

writing and report writing and governance. We had an inactive board,” saysMwansa. As a partner to implementer Development Aid fromPeople to People Zambia and Creative on the USAID-funded Zambia Family South Central project (ZAMFAM), KAFHI was given the opportunity to work with Creative to build its capacity and improve its performance over the course of three years. KAFHI was one of 23 community-based organizations that worked with Creative to improve their ability to provide wraparound services to orphans and vulnerable children and families—many of whomare affect- ed by HIV/AIDS. Through a tailored capacity-building plan that included workshops, one-on-onementoring, e-learning and ongoing support, Creative worked with KAFHI to hire amonitoring and evaluation officer and begin using a system to track progress. It helped the organization

m Elections

J’ai voté

I Voted

Yo voté

1

2

3

4

The voter receives a

Voter data is anonymized. Any identifying information is removed.

The vote is saved as a “block” with its own unique fingerprint in the blockchain server.

The blocks are linked to one another— creating the “chain,” making it easy to detect tampering.  

link unique to them and casts their vote.

Photos by Jillian Slutzker Rocker

Infographic by Amanda Smallwood

8 | Think Creative | Spring 2019

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