credit: newbeatphoto

Effective humanitarian aid isn’t always about food and shelter. Find out how the Gates Foundation is pursuing some long-term solutions to Haiti’s problems…

• Mobile technology is changing the world – especially in places where wireless technology can sidestep problems with a nation’s telecommunications infrastructure.
• Now this technology is going to help Haiti in a different way, by making cell phone banking widely available.
• After a natural disaster, local banks may be destroyed and Internet access nowhere to be found. Plus, mobile banking is safer. In the security crisis of post-earthquake Haiti, carrying cash has become a hazard.

Facts & Figures

• Over $30 million was raised for humanitarian relief after the quake
• Many of those donations came in via text message, $10 at a time
• The Gates Foundation and USAID are donating a total of $10 million to companies that can bring mobile banking to Haiti
• Fewer than 10% of Hatian citizens have ever used a commercial bank, but nearly every family has access to a cell phone

What Do You Think?

Would you donate to an organization that focused solely on bringing technology to people in need? Would you choose that over a traditional food-and-shelter humanitarian aid organization?

Tags: banking, earthquake, financial services, Gates Foundation, haiti, mobile phones