Shelter × AidLink: Blockchain-Powered Humanitarian Cash Transfers for UNICEF

The Challenge

Humanitarian cash transfer programs are one of the most effective forms of aid — but the infrastructure behind them is often slow, expensive, and opaque. Intermediary banks and payment providers take a significant cut, settlement can take days, and donors have limited visibility into whether funds actually reach beneficiaries.

UNICEF's Innovation Office set out to solve this through AidLink: a blockchain-based pipeline that could register beneficiaries, disburse funds via smart contracts, and deliver value through local mobile money networks — all with full on-chain traceability. The system needed to work in regions with unreliable internet, support configurable disbursement rules, and provide real-time tracking for program managers and donors.

AidLink Architecture

AidLink is a three-partner pipeline, each handling a distinct stage of the humanitarian cash transfer lifecycle:

• Rumsan — Beneficiary registration, identity verification, and enrollment management. Rumsan's platform ensures that every recipient is verified before funds are committed.
• Xcapit / Shelter — The smart contract disbursement engine. Shelter receives approved beneficiary lists, executes on-chain disbursements according to configurable rules, and provides real-time transaction tracking.
• Kotani Pay — Last-mile mobile money delivery. Kotani Pay converts on-chain stablecoins into local mobile money, enabling beneficiaries to receive and spend funds using their existing mobile wallets.

Shelter: Xcapit's Disbursement Engine

Shelter is the core disbursement layer of AidLink, designed and built by Xcapit. It is a multi-chain smart contract system that manages the full lifecycle of humanitarian fund distribution — from fund allocation to individual beneficiary disbursement to real-time reporting.

Multi-Chain Smart Contracts

Shelter's smart contracts are deployed on EVM-compatible networks, starting with Celo for its low transaction costs and mobile-first design philosophy. The contracts handle batch disbursements, enforce configurable rules (amount limits, frequency caps, eligibility criteria), and emit granular events for every transaction — enabling full auditability.

Configurable Disbursement Rules

Humanitarian programs vary widely in their distribution logic. Shelter supports configurable parameters including per-beneficiary amount limits, disbursement schedules, geographic targeting, and conditional release triggers. Program managers can adjust these rules without redeploying contracts, giving them the flexibility to adapt to changing field conditions.

Real-Time Tracking

Every disbursement is recorded on-chain and surfaced through a real-time dashboard. Program managers can see exactly which beneficiaries received funds, when, and how much — eliminating the reporting delays that plague traditional aid pipelines. Donors gain unprecedented transparency into how their contributions are being used.

Cusco Pilot: Proof at Scale

The AidLink pipeline was validated through a pilot in Cusco, Peru, distributing humanitarian cash transfers to 270 beneficiaries. The pilot demonstrated the full end-to-end flow: beneficiary registration via Rumsan, smart contract disbursement via Shelter, and last-mile delivery via Kotani Pay.

Key pilot metrics included over $15,000 distributed to 270 verified beneficiaries, settlement times of under 2 minutes per transaction (compared to days in traditional systems), full on-chain traceability for every dollar disbursed, and near-zero transaction fees thanks to Celo's efficient network.

Results & Impact

The Cusco pilot proved that blockchain-based humanitarian cash transfers can be faster, cheaper, and more transparent than traditional methods. Settlement times dropped from days to under 2 minutes. Transaction costs fell to near zero. And for the first time, donors and program managers had real-time, granular visibility into fund flows — from treasury to beneficiary.

The success of the pilot positioned AidLink as a scalable model for humanitarian cash transfers globally. The modular architecture — with separate partners handling registration, disbursement, and delivery — means each component can be improved or replaced independently, making the system adaptable to different contexts and regions.

Client Testimonial

"Congratulations to Xcapit for their excellent work. Their technology is bringing digital assets closer to those who need them most, helping UNICEF Innovation bring the benefit of technology to the last mile." — Shane O'Connor, Innovation Manager, UNICEF

Key Takeaways

• Smart contract disbursement reduces humanitarian cash transfer settlement from days to under 2 minutes
• On-chain traceability gives donors and program managers real-time visibility into every dollar distributed
• A modular three-partner architecture allows each pipeline stage to be optimized independently
• Configurable disbursement rules enable the same platform to serve diverse humanitarian programs
• Building on mobile-first chains like Celo keeps transaction costs near zero — critical for aid efficiency
• Pilot-first validation with 270 beneficiaries in Cusco proved the model before scaling