Mobile Money in Haiti: A New Support for Disaster Relief and Development Programs

 

New mobile-based payment systems may offer a more affordable, and faster alternative to distributing cash to countries such as Haiti.

 

The following is an old article. It offers the possibility of navigating to a "large" extent corruption using electronic money via mobile phones

 

Blogger Ref http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics

RS.   

By Matt Daggett | 2 | Mar. 9, 2011

Today, Haiti is still struggling to regain its footing more than a year after a disaster that literally shook the ground beneath it – with 250,000 people killed, 500,000 displaced, and a cost to the economy estimated between $7.2 billion and $13.2 billion (according to the Inter-American Development Bank). As if the initial effects weren’t bad enough, a series of additional challenges followed the earthquake: controversy about presidential candidates and alleged fraud in the election on November 28, the destruction wrought by Hurricane Tomas, an ongoing and deadly cholera epidemic, and riots brought on by growing resentment of international agencies and donors.
Though money has poured into Haiti for disbursement by aid organizations such as the American Red Cross, Mercy Corps, and World Vision, security concerns and scant use of traditional banks made distributing cash difficult and slow. In cash-for-work programs and other cash-based interventions, there are security concerns for both staff and beneficiaries. The threat of riots when payments are delayed is an ever-present concern for payers, while beneficiaries face the risk of being robbed on their return home. For those arriving home safely, saving can be a difficult proposition; Haitians’ immediate needs are so great and so many of them lack stable employment in competitive, productive markets.
In this context, I’m co-leading Dalberg’s research on the potential for new mobile-based payment systems that offer a safer, more affordable, and faster alternative to distributing cash in a country where 85% of households have access to a mobile phone (according to Voila, a mobile network operator) but only 10% of the population is served by the financial sector (in a study by USAID). This potential was the impetus for the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI), a joint program of the Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that is using a $10 million incentive fund to spur the growth of the mobile money industry. The program is managed by Haiti Integrated Finance for Value Chains and Enterprises (HIFIVE), an innovative division of USAID working to improve access to financial services.
After interviewing people from across the mobile money ecosystem in September and October 2010 in Port au Prince, and learning about the myriad challenges to launching mobile money, it was great to see two partnerships of mobile network operators and banks successfully launch mobile-phone-based virtual wallets and begin competing for shares of the HMMI fund by expanding their clientele. The award of the HMMI’s first cash prize – $2.5 million to Digicel and Scotiabank – marks a major milestone in the evolution of Haiti’s mobile money industry: the first partnership to reach 10,000 transactions spread across 100 mobile money agents.
With this milestone, mobile money is beginning to realize its potential for making cash-for-work and other aid programs faster and more cost- effective. Questions remain, however, as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as World Vision and Mercy Corps begin to rely on mobile money for their disbursements: What will be the overall costs and benefits? What obstacles will be encountered in implementation?
When my colleague Lorenzo Bernasconi and I interviewed leaders of these NGOs, many felt that mobile money held enormous promise for reducing registration times and costs for aid recipients, increasing the speed of cash disbursement, improving safety and privacy for clients, and increasing financial access for the majority of Haitians. Jean Capili, senior manager of innovation and partnering at World Vision, put it this way: “We are excited about the potential mobile banking has for participants in our cash for work program and for future programs that can utilize such mobile technology. It is an alternate mode of payment that is more secure and will reduce the existing number of days in which participants get paid, which in turn means they can purchase necessities for their children faster.” Indeed, World Vision estimated that the cash disbursement time-lag could be lowered by as much 50%, as illustrated below.

In mid-2011 and early 2012, we’ll carry out two additional rounds of research on the costs and benefits of mobile money for NGOs and government payers in Haiti – as well as the efficacy of the prize mechanism and the effects on Haitians’ lives. While our initial analysis delved into these NGOs expectations and plans, this subsequent analysis will begin to show how mobile-based payments work in practice. We will seek to answer questions like:

• What time and cost savings have NGO‘s realized in Haiti using mobile payment solutions?
• What were the required investments to introduce mobile money platforms?
• What are some of the key risks and challenges in using mobile platforms?
• When is distribution through a mobile banking platform more cost effective than cash?
• What has the reaction been among beneficiaries?

I am particularly excited about this research because the potential impact for programs in access to finance, agriculture, and health is so significant. These solutions, if effective, could increase delivery times, reduce corruption, improve tracking, and reduce costs for the full range of NGO programs working with cash payments. Around the world, examples already include the use of mobile-based payment solutions for cash-for-work programs, conditional cash transfers, loan repayments, and voucher programs for agricultural inputs and health care. Where mobile money platforms already exist, as in Kenya, new aid programs can build on the existing infrastructure.
In the coming months, I will be continuing this research in Haiti and working with funders and nonprofits to apply these lessons to their own portfolios of programs. Check back here for an update on our research later in the year. In the meantime, the Gates Foundation and USAID will continue to award prizes as Haiti’s mobile money industry grows.

Matt Daggett is an associate partner, director of Dalberg’s Washington, D.C. office, and co-leader of Dalberg’s mobile/ICT group. In addition to leading Dalberg’s research on the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative, one of Matt’s recent engagements involved determining cost and revenue drivers for a mobile money business in West Africa with more than 1.5 million base-of-the-pyramid customers. He also led analysis of the landscape of international remittances flowing through branchless banking platforms, helped advise a leading African bank on rolling out its branchless banking platform, and is now developing several mHealth and mAgriculture initiatives.

Green building in the United States

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Blogger Ref Link http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Transfinancial_Economics

This article provides examples of Green Building programs in the United States. These programs span the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and all have the goal of increasing energy efficiency and the sustainability of the built environment.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Sustainable Design Organizations and Green Building Programs
• 2 Campus greening
• 3 Federal High-Performance Green Buildings
• 4 Green Affordable Housing
• 5 State and Local Initiatives
  • 5.1 California
  • 5.2 Virginia
  • 5.3 Washington
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Sustainable Design Organizations and Green Building Programs[edit]

In the United States, governments and private organizations have established several sustainable design organizations and programs in green building.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built and operated. The USGBC is best known for the development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and Greenbuild, a green building conference that promotes the green building industry. As of September 2008, USGBC has more than 17,000 member organizations from every sector of the building industry and works to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. To achieve this it has developed a variety of programs and services, and works closely with key industry and research organizations and federal, state and local government agencies. USGBC also offers a host of educational opportunities, including workshops and Web-based seminars to educate the public and industry professionals on different elements of the green building industry, from the basics to more technical information. Through its Green Building Certification Institute, USGBC offers industry professionals the chance to develop expertise in the field of green building and to receive accreditation as green building professionals.
The National Association of Home Builders, a trade association representing home builders, remodelers and suppliers to the industry, has created a voluntary residential green building program known as NAHBGreen.^[1] The program includes an online scoring tool, national certification, industry education, and training for local verifiers. The online scoring tool is free to builders and to homeowners.
The Green Building Initiative is a non-profit network of building industry leaders working to mainstream building approaches that are environmentally progressive, but also practical and affordable for builders to implement. The GBI has developed a web-based rating tool called Green Globes, which has been upgraded in accordance with ANSI procedures.^[2]
The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program rates commercial buildings for energy efficiency and provides Energy Star qualifications for new homes that meet its standards for energy efficient building design.
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools is a non-profit green rating program specifically for K-12 schools.^[3] CHPS addresses energy efficiency and additional design considerations fostering healthy and environmentally responsible school buildings. On June 4, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act," which would commit over $20 billion of funding over the next five years to high performance schools.^[4] CHPS is recognized as one of the standards that projects would need to meet in order to qualify for the H.R. 3021 legislation funding.^[4] H.R. 3021 was referred to the Senate on August 1, 2008.^[5]
The Green Communities Initiative provided the first national green building program for new constructions and rehabilitation of affordable housing. It was launched in 2004 as a partnership between initiative taker Enterprise Community Partners (ECP), the Natural Resources Defense Council, Global Green USA, the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, Southface and the National Center for Healthy Housing, along with a number of corporate, financial and philanthropic institutions. Enterprise Community Partners first committed to $555 million in grants, financing and equity to bring green affordable housing to the mainstream. ECP launched the "next generation" Green Communities in 2009 thereby committing to an additional $4 billion. The Green Communities Initiative created the Green Communities Criteria which address eight areas for green building projects and are compatible with LEED standards.^[6][7]
Research conducted by the Environmental Policy Alliance, an organization dedicated to exposing environmental hypocrisy, suggests that the certified green buildings in Washington, D.C. "might not be doing much good." City officials released the first round of energy usage data on 28 February 2014. The data is measured in Energy Use Intensity (EUI)'s, a unit that relates a building's energy consumption to its size. The group analyzed the data and found that privately owned buildings that received the green energy certification Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) use more energy than those that do not have this green building certification. Buildings with the green building stamp of approval averaged an EUI at 205 while non-LEED-certified buildings had an EUI at 199.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Campus greening[edit]

Main article: Campus greening

Transformative work on American college campuses in the 2000s has done much to change the implicit evaluation of "progress" that green building attracts amongst academics. According to Ann Rappaport, a lecturer at Tufts School of Engineering who writes about climate change and universities, "[t]he value of campus greening [in the United States] goes well beyond resources saved; greening generates interest and invites members of the academic community to think differently about societal values, goods consumed, and the infrastructure for shelter and mobility, raising questions about how human needs can be met in new ways."^[12]

Federal High-Performance Green Buildings[edit]

Main article: Office of High-Performance Green Buildings

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has made available not less than $4.5 billion for measures necessary to convert General Services Administration facilities to High-Performance Green Buildings, as defined in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-140).

Green Affordable Housing[edit]

Main article: Green Affordable Housing

Green Affordable Housing is a term that refers to affordable housing that exhibits "green" or "sustainable" features. Several state and local governments have adopted programs that encourage or require building green when constructing affordable housing.^[13][14][15]
Mixed income housing developer McCormack Baron Salazar was is the first developer in the world to have received two U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Certifications for completed neighborhoods University Place, in Memphis, Tennessee and Renaissance Place in St. Louis, MO. Both are urban, mixed-income, affordable developments built under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI program.^[16]

State and Local Initiatives[edit]

California[edit]

The 2010 California Green Building Standards Code(Calgreen) is the first statewide green building code in the country and seeks to establish minimum green building standards for the majority of residential and commercial new construction projects across California.^[17]
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom approved a green building ordinance in early August 2008 that imposes strict requirements on newly constructed residential and commercial buildings within the city, as well as building renovations.^[18]
For homes, the ordinance requires ratings from the GreenPoints rating system,^[19] developed by a non-profit organization called Build It Green.^[20] Starting next year, new "small" residential buildings (those with four dwellings or fewer) must achieve 25 GreenPoints (equal to the "Elements" rating), but do not need to be rated. For 2010 and 2011, the homes must be GreenPoint Rated and building applications must demonstrate that a minimum of 50 GreenPoints (equal to the "Whole House" rating) will be achieved. And starting in 2012, building applications for new homes must demonstrate that at least 75 GreenPoints will be achieved. The same rules apply for mid-size residential buildings, except that the requirement for 75 GreenPoints starts earlier, in 2011.
For commercial buildings and high-rise residential buildings, the ordinance adds in requirements from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system. Starting in November (if the California Energy Commission has approved the legislation), new permit applications for high-rise residential buildings must include documentation to achieve LEED certification (or 50 GreenPoints), and starting in 2010, they must include documentation to achieve LEED Silver certification (or 75 GreenPoints). A number of specific LEED standards must also be met for landscaping, water use reduction, and construction debris management. Mid-size commercial buildings don't need to meet LEED certification requirements but must meet LEED standards for building commissioning, landscaping, water use, and construction debris management starting in 2009, and must meet enhanced commissioning standards and tighter water use requirements starting in 2010. Beginning in 2012, the buildings must also meet LEED standards for the use of on-site renewable energy or the purchase of renewable energy credits.
The toughest requirements apply to large commercial buildings. Starting in November, new permit applications for high-rise residential building must submit documentation to achieve LEED certification, and that requirement ratchets up to LEED Silver in 2009 and LEED Gold in 2012. There are also requirements to meet additional LEED standards, nearly equal to those for mid-size commercial buildings. Finally, for new large commercial interiors and major alterations to existing buildings, new permit applications must include documentation to achieve the same LEED rating requirements as for new large commercial buildings, and must also meet the LEED standards for materials that emit low levels of indoor pollutants. All new buildings must earn additional rating points if an older building was demolished to make room for it, and they must earn even higher points if the demolished building was historical. Building projects can also earn extra points by retaining historical features of the previous building.
Earning LEED credits within this framework is becoming cost neutral for most hotel developers, especially in the Napa Valley where the industry has caught up to speed.^{[citation needed]} Since at least March 2008, green property builders have been giving them "real figures on what it costs to build a green property" after developer tax incentives.^[21]

Virginia[edit]

Charlottesville, Virginia became one of the first small towns in the United States to enact green building legislation.^[22] This presents a significant shift in construction and architecture as LEED regulations have formerly been focused on commercial construction. If US homeowner interest grows in "green" residential construction, the companies involved in the production and manufacturing of LEED building materials will become likely candidates for tomorrow's round of private equity and IPO investing.^[23][24]

Washington[edit]

In 2005, Washington State became the first state in the United States to enact green building legislation.^[25] According to the law, all major public agency facilities with a floor area exceeding 5,000 square feet (465 m²), including state funded school buildings, are required to meet or exceed LEED standards in construction or renovation. The projected benefits from this law are 20% annual savings in energy and water costs, 38% reduction in waste water production and 22% reduction in construction waste.

See also[edit]

• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• High-Performance Green Buildings
• United States Green Building Council
• 2010 California Green Building Standards Code (Calgreen)

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ NAHBGreen - National Green Building Program | national green building standard certification nahb research center program homes residential builders remodelers scoring tool co...
2. Jump up ^ "Green Building Initiative". Retrieved 2011-05-13. 
3. Jump up ^ http://www.green-technology.org/green_technology_magazine/chps_story.htm Green Technology.
4. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} [1]^{[dead link]} eSchool News
5. Jump up ^ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03021: THOMAS Library of Congress.
6. Jump up ^ Myerson, Deborah L. (2008). ULI Community Catalyst Report Number 7: Environmentally Sustainable Affordable Housing. Washington D.C.: ULI - the Urban Land Institute. 
7. Jump up ^ Enterprise Community Partners. "About". Green Communities. Retrieved 3 December 2011. 
8. Jump up ^ Hurtubise, Sarah (2 March 2014). "Report: DC’s green-approved buildings using more energy". The Daily Caller. Retrieved 3 March 2014. 
9. Jump up ^ Schow, Ashe (3 March 2014). "Your energy LOL for the day: 'Green' buildings not so green". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 3 March 2014. 
10. Jump up ^ Lundin, Barbara (3 March 2014). "USGBC LEED bombshell". Fierce Energy. Retrieved 3 March 2014. 
11. Jump up ^ "LEED Exposed Project Shows that LEED-Certified Buildings Have Less Energy Efficiency Compared to Other Buildings". AZO Clean Tech. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2014. 
12. Jump up ^ Rappaport, Ann (January–February 2008). "Campus Greening: Behind the Headlines". Environment (magazine) 50 (1): 6–16. Retrieved 2009-04-22. 
13. Jump up ^ Oregon Housing and Community Services (May 7, 2007). "Green Building in Oregon: Green Building Activities". Salem, OR, USA: State of Oregon. Retrieved 7 December 2011. 
14. Jump up ^ Office of Housing, City of Seattle. "SeaGreen: Sustainability & Conservation". Seattle, WA, USA: City of Seattle. Retrieved 7 December 2011. 
15. Jump up ^ Department of Neighborhood Development, City of Boston. "Green Housing Program". Boston, MA, USA: City of Boston. Retrieved 7 December 2011. 
16. Jump up ^ Developer Achieves Sustainable Development Distinction Unique in Development Industry, press release, May 6, 2011.
17. Jump up ^ http://www.hcd.ca.gov/news/release/GreenBuildingCodes11310.pdf
18. Jump up ^ EERE News: EERE Network News - September 3, 2008
19. Jump up ^ Build It Green - Oakland, CA
20. Jump up ^ Build It Green - Promoting healthy, energy- and resource-efficient building practices in California
21. Jump up ^ Freed, Jason Q. (2008-04-21). "Speakers break down costs of going green". Hotel & Motel Management 233 (7) (Henderson, NV). pp. 1, 32. Retrieved 2009-04-23. ^{[dead link]}
22. Jump up ^ Albemarle examines cost, benefits of green buildings, Charlottesville Tomorrow, 2007-04-20. Retrieved 2007-05-03
23. Jump up ^ Energy Roundup, Wall Street Journal Energy Roundup, 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2007-05-03
24. Jump up ^ The Power of Small Communities to LEED Change: Charlottesville, VA^{[dead link]}, Energy Spin, 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2007-05-03
25. Jump up ^ Washington State Law Mandates Green Building, RenewableEnergyAccess, 2005-04-21. Retrieved 2007-02-10

External links[edit]

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Building Website
• U.S. Green Building Council
• U.S. Dept of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy website DOE details "Builders Challenge" energy efficiency program
• American Institute of Architects - Top Ten Green Projects

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