17/5/2016/MasterCard
By Marisa Grimes
While funding for humanitarian assistance reached an all-time high last year, a painful gap still exists between the needs and the resources available. In order to close this gap, public and private sector organizations must work together in smart and innovative ways to solve humanitarian crises and build more resilient communities.
At the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit (May 23-24, Istanbul), MasterCard will demonstrate how it is going beyond traditional corporate social responsibility approaches to create new technologies and unique partnership models with UN agencies, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other players to drive sustainable growth through financial inclusion.
Among the highlights:
Walt Macnee, vice chairman of MasterCard, will participate in the High-Level Leaders’ Roundtable, Investing in Humanity: Humanitarian Finance. Alongside heads of state, MasterCard will commit to bold actions to help billions of dollars in humanitarian funding act more like trillions. The session will be livestreamed at http://webtv.un.org on Monday, May 23, 1:45 p.m. Eastern European Time (EET).
MasterCard will host a side event with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). The session titled, Leveraging Digital Innovation in Humanitarian Response to Build Resilience, will take place Tuesday, May 24 at 11 a.m. EET and feature remarks by Tara Nathan, executive vice president, Public Private Partnerships for MasterCard, and panelists including Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps, David Miliband, CEO of International Rescue Committee, and Momodu Kargbo, Minister of Finance, Sierra Leone. Join the conversation around this session using the hashtag #Innovate4Humanity.
MasterCard will apply its payments technology expertise to participate in the Summit’s 24-hour Hack4Humanity hackathon on Sunday, May 22. MasterCard will be among leading technology companies working with more than 100 refugees to create inspiring and unique solutions to address the refugee crisis. The solutions emerging from the Summit will be further developed and featured during the UN General Assembly in September.
MasterCard will feature live demos of its MasterCard Aid Network solution as part the Summit’s Innovation Marketplace, as well as showcase its work with development organizations and governments at the Summit’s Exhibition Fair.
Be sure to visit the MasterCard Engagement Bureau and follow @MasterCardNews on Twitter for our latest updates, news and announcements before and during the World Humanitarian Summit.
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