11 April 2018, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Rohingya Project, a grassroots initiative that aims to uplift and empower the Rohingya diaspora worldwide, announces a research collaboration with the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies of the University of Washington in Seattle, USA.
Launched in December 2017, the Rohingya Project is currently developing a targeted financial platform that can be accessed through a Digital ID as an access key for stateless Rohingya.
Through this Blockchain-leveraged ecosystem, over 3 million Rohingya, who for decades have been sidelined through financial exclusion and lack of identification, can be given access to a range of financial applications and other services to encourage collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Applied Research Project between the Rohingya Project and the UW is for the period of March to June 2018. The UW team, comprised of competitively selected undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Jackson School, will explore the different implications of the Blockchain ID within international frameworks, the uses of Blockchain in assisting displaced people previously, and related data and privacy issues.
The research team is headed by Dr. Sara Curran, Director of the UW’s Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology and a Professor of International Studies, Sociology, and Public Policy & Governance.
“Our project welcomes this collaboration and the fantastic research team from the University of Washington for their assistance as we aim to solve the problem of the financial exclusion that the Rohingya suffer from,” said Mr Muhammad Noor, Managing Director for the Rohingya Project and a Rohingya himself.