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Following the Russian invasion, an estimated eight million Ukrainians left the country, and further eight million were displaced within Ukraine.
Ukraine was already relatively advanced on digitalisation and digital asset use – and so was quick to grasp the usefulness of such solutions in providing their citizens and entrepreneurs with alternatives to damaged or otherwise unavailable traditional infrastructure.
“[Diia] is used by more than half the Ukrainian adult population.”
The Ukrainian government acted quickly to facilitate the use of digital assets after the invasion. In March 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law officially legalising digital assets in Ukraine, establishing a regulatory framework to ensure convenient and secure access to the global market for digital assets.
There have been widespread reports of digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether being used by Ukrainians to access and transport their savings after the Russian attacks made access to traditional financial institutions difficult.
The UNHCR has notably partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), alongside money transfer company MoneyGram, and Circle (issuer of the USDC stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar) to pilot a system for distributing aid directly to Ukrainian refugees on their phones.
While these solutions have clearly demonstrated their utility in the Ukrainian context, their uptake was highly context-specific with Ukraine having been quite advanced in relation to digitalisation and making the necessary regulatory changes swiftly. Much more needs to be done to tackle some of the barriers to their wider deployment, both in Ukraine and other conflict or crisis situations around the world. The following section looks at the remaining barriers including how to address these.
The UNHCR has notably partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), alongside money transfer company MoneyGram, and Circle (issuer of the USDC stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar) to pilot a system for distributing aid directly to Ukrainian refugees on their phones.
While these solutions have clearly demonstrated their utility in the Ukrainian context, their uptake was highly context-specific with Ukraine having been quite advanced in relation to digitalisation and making the necessary regulatory changes swiftly. Much more needs to be done to tackle some of the barriers to their wider deployment, both in Ukraine and other conflict or crisis situations around the world. The following section looks at the remaining barriers including how to address these.
individuals have received aid through pilots of this system
in essential aid were disbursed
Following the Russian invasion, an estimated eight million Ukrainians left the country, and further eight million were displaced within Ukraine.
Ukraine was already relatively advanced on digitalisation and digital asset use – and so was quick to grasp the usefulness of such solutions in providing their citizens and entrepreneurs with alternatives to damaged or otherwise unavailable traditional infrastructure.
“[Diia] is used by more than half the Ukrainian adult population.”
The Ukrainian government acted quickly to facilitate the use of digital assets after the invasion. In March 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law officially legalising digital assets in Ukraine, establishing a regulatory framework to ensure convenient and secure access to the global market for digital assets.
There have been widespread reports of digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether being used by Ukrainians to access and transport their savings after the Russian attacks made access to traditional financial institutions difficult.
The UNHCR has notably partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), alongside money transfer company MoneyGram, and Circle (issuer of the USDC stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar) to pilot a system for distributing aid directly to Ukrainian refugees on their phones.
While these solutions have clearly demonstrated their utility in the Ukrainian context, their uptake was highly context-specific with Ukraine having been quite advanced in relation to digitalisation and making the necessary regulatory changes swiftly. Much more needs to be done to tackle some of the barriers to their wider deployment, both in Ukraine and other conflict or crisis situations around the world. The following section looks at the remaining barriers including how to address these.
The UNHCR has notably partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), alongside money transfer company MoneyGram, and Circle (issuer of the USDC stablecoin, which is pegged to the US dollar) to pilot a system for distributing aid directly to Ukrainian refugees on their phones.
While these solutions have clearly demonstrated their utility in the Ukrainian context, their uptake was highly context-specific with Ukraine having been quite advanced in relation to digitalisation and making the necessary regulatory changes swiftly. Much more needs to be done to tackle some of the barriers to their wider deployment, both in Ukraine and other conflict or crisis situations around the world. The following section looks at the remaining barriers including how to address these.
individuals have received aid through pilots of this system
in essential aid were disbursed