cabri-sbo.org (25.03.2020)

To promote the use of electronic payment tools the Western Africa Central Bank (BCEAO) is providing more flexible measures to open a mobile money and making transfers between people backed by electronic money free.

latinamerica.undp.org (14.10.2020) The Government of Honduras launched “Single Voucher” (Bono Unico), an innovative social protection program aimed at supporting the most vulnerable population affected by COVID-19 in Honduras. The Single Voucher is a one-time subsidy of $82 dollars (2,000 lempiras) delivered through an electronic voucher that can be exchanged for food, medicine and /or medical supplies to up to 260,000 persons in the country in the next three months. 

moroccoworldnews.com (20.10.2020) Morocco established several innovative digital solutions to increase the number of beneficiaries of social protection schemes during the pandemic.

Jizokuka-kyufukin (01.09.2020) One time subsidy for small and medium-sized enterprises and sole proprietors whose  sales of any month from January to December reduced by at least 50% compared to that of last year. The amount is 2,000,000 yen maximum for SMEs, and 1,000,000 yen maximum for sole proprietors including freelances. Application can be done online during 1st May 2020 to 15th January 2021.

cgdev.org (Sept 2020) Many countries have launched unprecedented relief packages to cushion the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This short review considers some initial lessons emerging from selected countries around the use of digital technology to implement these government-to-people (G2P) social transfer programs. Information is still limited on how well the programs have functioned; in particular, there is a dearth of rapid demand-side survey evidence on the experience of beneficiaries receiving transfers and the likely magnitudes of inclusion and exclusion errors.

ilo.org (26.08.2020) A new ILO policy brief shows how public employment services are using technology to increase the help available to people whose jobs have been affected by COVID-19.

sciencedirect.com (05.05.2020) One of the most effective ways that the Korean government rapidly dispersed these daily updates is emergency SMS messages. All citizens receive daily alert messages through their mobile phones from their local authorities. The alert message arrives with a 40–60 db alarm sound, and contains information from KCDC about newly confirmed patients and their recent trajectories if available.

Public Pension Agency (28.04.2020) The call center is fully prepared and staffed (remotely) throughout the month of Ramadan to receive all incoming calls, and to deal with them as determined by the nature of the required service throughout the week from Sunday to Thursday from ten in the morning until four in the evening, and from nine in the evening until one in the morning, and on Friday from one in the evening until five in the evening and from nine in the evening until one in the morning.