Social Income Explained

Social Income
Type:non-profit organization
Purpose:Alleviating extreme poverty through cash transfers
Leader Title:Founding Director
Leader Name:Sandino Scheidegger
Location City:Zürich
Area Served:Freetown, Sierra Leone
Num Employees:Approx 15

Social Income is a nonprofit organization based in Switzerland that provides unconditional cash transfers via mobile phone to people living in multidimensional poverty in West Africa. Since 2020, Social Income has been running an open-ended universal basic income program in Sierra Leone.[1] [2]

History

Social Income was established in December 2019 and became operational in March 2020, coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.[3] While individual donors, pledging 1% of their income, provide the majority of financial donations,[4] operational costs are also supported by corporate contributions, prize money such as the Lean Innovation Award,[5] and support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in the framework of the Humanitarian Innovation Exchange and Accelerator.[6]

Operations

COVID-19 support

Social Income initiated over 2,000 payments to individuals adversely affected by the economic repercussions of COVID-19 restrictions. As the pandemic began to impact West African nations, leading to border closures, the project was concurrently launched to address the emerging needs. Recipients of the program are guaranteed support for a duration of three years.[7]

Basic income experiment

In March 2020, Social Income launched an open-ended experiment to test a universal basic income (UBI) in Sierra Leone.[8] The instalments are paid out unconditional.[9] The country was selected for this experiment due to its significant poverty levels, with 59.2 percent of the population living in poverty.[10] Social Income differs from other universal basic income projects like GiveDirectly in that it operates as an open-source initiative.[11] [12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Map of Universal Basic Income Experiments . The Stanford Basic Income Lab . 1 January 2022 . The Stanford Basic Income Lab . Stanford University . 18 September 2023.
  2. Web site: Financial Inclusion Challenge Social Income . MIT . 1 February 2022 . Massachusetts Institute of Technology Solve . Massachusetts Institute of Technology . January 5, 2024.
  3. Web site: Social Income: A Will and a Way to End Poverty . Borgen Magazine . October 22, 2021 . In March 2020, the organization began sending its first cash transfers. . 18 September 2023.
  4. Web site: Finances . Social Income . 18 September 2023 . October 5, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221005212208/https://socialincome.org/finances . dead .
  5. News: Kernen. Cécile. Lean Innovation Award – Melden Sie jetzt Ihre Idee an . Jungfrau Zeitung. 9 September 2022. de . Lean Innovation Award – Get your idea registered . 18 September 2023.
  6. Web site: Letter of Confirmation for the Participation in the Humanitarian Innovation Exchange and Accelerator 2021 . Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation . 17 August 2021 . PDF . 18 September 2023.
  7. Web site: Eigentlich ist ein Prozent eine Frechheit . PS Zeitung . June 24, 2022 . Social Income garantiert das Grundeinkommen für drei Jahre. . Actually, one percent is an impertinence . 18 September 2023. Social Income guarantees basic income for three years.
  8. Web site: MIT Solve . Flanders Arts Institute . 28 February 2023 . Flanders Arts Institute . January 5, 2024.
  9. Web site: Eigentlich ist ein Prozent eine Frechheit . Das Lamm . June 15, 2022 . Sie können mit diesem Geld machen, was sie wollen, und wissen am besten, wie sie sich aus ihrer schwierigen Lage befreien können. . Actually, one percent is an impertinence . 18 September 2023. They can do whatever they want with this money, and they know best how to get themselves out of their difficult situation..
  10. Web site: Country Profile: Sierra Leone . Human Development Reports . United Nations Development Programme . 18 September 2023.
  11. Web site: Introducing Activating Developers and the new Digital Public Goods Open Source Community Manager Program . The GitHub Blog . 13 March 2023 . 18 September 2023.
  12. Web site: Public Repository . GitHub . Social Income . 18 September 2023.

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