Although the technology was first made popular with cryptocurrencies, there is a boatload of other potential that blockchain holds. The United Nation’s (UN) secretary-general made this clear in a statement provided to Forbes recently.
Known for his pro-blockchain attitude, Antonio Guterres is suggesting that the UN should embrace blockchain in its totality to be able to ‘actually’ achieve its sustainable development goals (SDGs). He states:
“For the United Nations to deliver better on our mandate in the digital age, we need to embrace technologies like blockchain that can help accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.”
With blockchain and cryptocurrencies already finding their way into big organizations such as UNICEF with both cryptocurrency and blockchain, it is not much of a surprise seeing the UN as a whole flirting with this financial technology.
As Guterres rightly asserts, this highly transparent technology could be what the UN needs right now to be able to track its SDGs. While SDGs are a always welcomed for additional improvement, especially with more focus on alleviating poverty and responsibly producing and consuming goods, we can’t close our eyes to the fact that these goals are proving insurmountable in some areas, leading to a certain level of holds and breaks in accomplishing the mission. Think of an era where each project can be tracked, as well as the success rate for each technique employed.
Even more so, blockchain technology holds the potential to eliminate the “trust deficit disorder,” which Guterres believes is yet another reason for the stunted growth of the UN’s SDGs. In his proposal, Guterres explains that blockchain technology together with artificial intelligence could solve the trust deficit disorder seen across global organizations.
He further affirms that partners and investors would no longer be scared of donating, as they now can tell whether or not their donations are being employed the right way. This will, in turn, fuel more credibility in the organization, and of course attract more donations.
The UN and Blockchain Technology
This wouldn’t be the first time the UN is leveraging blockchain technology, though. The UN agencies, the International Telecommunications Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization, have joined forces in the past to use blockchain technology for traceability by tracking pig supply chains in Papua New Guinea.
Of course, employing a disruptive technology such as blockchain in an organization as big as the UN wouldn’t be a mere walk in the park. Tons of signatures will have to be passed off to finally get the green light needed to proceed with any fintech project. Notwithstanding, we strongly believe that the goal of achieving 17 SDGs by 2030 would be so much easier with these sorts of technologies involved.
