Helen’s Message
For the majority of us, we were pleased to close the door on 2020, our sights firmly set on 2021 and with it, the promise of a post pandemic world. Yet, as the year draws to an end, we have come to understand there is likely to be no real end to COVID at least not in the near future.
The virus is something we’re going to have to learn to live alongside; there will be no final divorce as we may have hoped.
However, through the challenges over the past two years, 2021 has proven to be a year of progress and growth.
It’s now widely believed that history will repeat itself and once again, there will be a ‘roaring 20’s.’ The decade of the 1920’s earned its name across parts of Europe and North America, not only for the decadency and boom in popular culture following the years of hardship during the first World War; but, it was also known as the roaring twenties for it’s political change, with huge strides made for women’s rights and for major advances in technology and science.
Here at the beginning of the 2020’s, we’ve seen powerful momentum for movements such as Black Lives Matter, Anti-Asian hate crime and climate protests. This year also brought healthcare inequality onto a global stage with the vast disparity between wealthy vs poorer countries during the vaccine rollouts. Humanity as a whole, has never been more informed, educated and equipped to tackle social injustice.
Mirroring the century before, we’ve also bore witness to huge advances in technology and science. Although the rollout has shown us great disparities in access to healthcare, the success and speed in finding vaccines for COVID-19 was unprecedented in history. Plus, we’ve made even more advances in space exploration, the NFT boom has revolutised the creative industry, Bitcoin hit all time highs in value and Metaverse is inching closer to mainstream adoption.
For us at Binance Charity, 2021 has seen continuing efforts to help countries still struggling in the pandemic, including a partnership with UNICEF to help in the largest vaccine equality initiative in history - the UN-led COVAX programme. We’ve welcomed the rise in NFT’s and partnered with Hollywood stars and world-renowned artists to turn creativity into meaningful causes. And, we’ve made our debut into the fight to protect our planet, launching our most ambitious project yet to plant 10 million trees worldwide. To name just a few...
Now as 2022 is but a matter of days away we prepare to push the boundaries of global giving even further. To embrace more emerging technologies and repurpose them to advance meaningful change and act as pioneers in the ‘New World’ of Metaverse. We’re going to double down our efforts around education and more than ever, we feel ready to harness the power of blockchain for good, as it’s only growing stronger.
With Love,
Helen Hai
Head of Binance Charity
Our Mission
- Healthy Bodies and Minds
- Equal Futures Now
- Our Planet Our Legacy
- Closing the Poverty Gap
- Education for Strong Foundations
Our Impact So Far
Since launching in 2018
we’re proud of our progress
- $8,598,649Total donated
- 27Total projects
- 1,847,993Total end beneficiaries
- 42Amount of countries active
2021 Highlights
Healthy Bodies and Minds
- 4,677,458USD
- 1,028,200Beneficiaries
- 32Countries
Crypto Against COVID
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Our Project
As we approach the 2 year mark of the COVID-19 outbreak it’s death toll now surpasses 5.1 million- on record - with experts fearing the real figure is closer to double that. It is a pandemic that has engulfed the world. This year we have remained focused on our Crypto Against COVID efforts, with more donations to India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
Our Progress
Since Crypto Against COVID launched in January 2020 we’ve achieved:
• Over $5.6 million USD in crypto donations
• Helped provide more than 2 million items of PPE and medical equipment plus 500,000 vaccines
• We’ve donated to 31 countries worldwide
Efforts Across Asia
As India battled their most severe wave of COVID-19 infections killing upwards of 4,000 people a day, we teamed up with the Red Cross to source and deliver two liquid oxygen tanks, each one could help save 6,000 lives. Further to this, we delivered another donation consisting of 100,000 masks and 50 ICU ventilators to areas considered to be worst hit and still struggling.
For Indonesia, we sourced and supplied two liquid oxygen tanks - equating to 5,000 cylinders to Jakarta, Indonesia.
In Vietnam we donated a state-of-the-art PCR instrument, capable of processing 400 COVID tests per day and 10,000 masks for PPE. And as Vietnam continues to fight COVID-19, we made another donation, just last month (November) of two ventilators to help aid the demand for critical medical equipment.
Working with the Thai Red Cross we delivered 10 oxygen concentrators - totalling 2 million BAHT - to Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok.
Indonesian Embassy-Singapore
Pensosbud Team
Hope for Haiti
Our Project
Following the catastrophic earthquake that claimed the lives of more than 1300 people and destroyed homes and livelihoods, we partnered with Hope for Haiti to deliver emergency aid. They have a trusted presence, having been working in southern Haiti for 30 years to resource and empower local leaders and support systems of education, healthcare, access to clean water, and economic opportunity.
Our Progress
Guided by their strong team we supported immediate, short-term, and long-term action plans and this we have achieved:
• 550 people directly received crypto to cash assistance
• An estimated total of 2,750 people indirectly benefited from the services our donation helped to provide
• Donated $50,000 USD crypto donation
Skyler Badenoch
CEO of Hope for Haiti
Hear From Our Partners
How has working with Binance Charity affected your organisation?
This August, southern Haiti experienced a major earthquake that destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Haitian families. In the early days of our response, The Binance Charitable Foundation stepped up with a generous gift of 1.02 BTC ($50,000 USD). This transformational donation allowed our team to help provide relief to families during a very difficult period through our direct cash transfer program that redistributed cash directly to families affected by the earthquake.
What inspired you to work with Binance Charity?
For many years, Hope for Haiti has been working to integrate crypto-philanthropy into our giving program. We’ve been long-time admirers of the work of Binance CEO, CZ, and the Binance Charity. We were inspired to work with Binance Charity because of this admiration and our belief that cryptocurrency can play a significant role in helping solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges including poverty, environmental degradation, inequality, and lack of access to basic human rights like education, healthcare, and clean water.
What are you most excited about in the year ahead?
In the upcoming year, we are excited about growing our engagement with NFT artists to help raise awareness and support for our mission. This year, we hosted three different NFT charity auctions, and we believe that this is just the start of a revolutionary convergence of art, philanthropy, and technology.
What have been your greatest achievements this year?
Our greatest achievements this year revolve around our response to the Haiti earthquake where we were able to procure $11 million in medication and medical supplies to support our relief efforts. Our team provided more than 18,000 medical consolations to people affected by the Haiti earthquake, and we distributed more than $250,000 in cash transfers to more than 2,500 families affected by the earthquake. Additionally, we distributed 7,000 backpacks full of school supplies to students at the start of their school year, and we provided more than 27,000 home water filters to families in rural Haiti.
What advice would you give to other organisations considering the adoption of cryptocurrency?
We would advise other organizations to consider three things when it comes to crypto-philanthropy: (1) consider adopting a policy to accept cryptocurrency as a form of donation; (2) identify ways that your organization can pilot program use-cases supported by cryptocurrency or blockchain technology; and (3) Spend time learning about the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem to help understand how each might be able to help your organization address any problems you hope to help solve.
Equal Futures, Now
- 1,060,000USD
- 500,100Beneficiaries
- 12Countries
Crypto For COVAX
Our Project
To bring the COVID-19 pandemic to an end, a large percentage of the global population needs to be immune. The key to this, the vaccinations.
“Vaccine equity is the challenge of our time,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
Vaccines are rapidly being rolled out. More than 7.75 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 33.2 million doses a day. Yet there is a huge disparity between high or upper middle-income countries vs low-income peers. Countries and regions with the highest incomes are getting vaccinated more than 10 times faster than those with the lowest.
Our Progress
We started 2021 with a $1 million USD donation to UNICEF towards the UN-led COVAX vaccine equality programme.
We’re proud to say we doubled our original goal of vaccinating 250,000 people and actually contributed to 500,000 people receiving vaccinations across 11 countries.
COVAX Deliveries Our Donation Contributed Towards
Sandra Visscher
Executive Director, Luxembourg Committee for UNICEF
Hear From Our Partners
How do you think blockchain can help advance your organisation’s mission?
The emergence of cryptocurrencies has created the opportunities for new partnerships, unlocking new resources for children. The use of blockchain technology could further increase the efficiency and transparency of the allocation of donations, as 100% of transactions could be publicly viewable and the transfer of assets could take place nearly instantly.
What are your greatest challenges? Can blockchain help with these?
New programme opportunities leveraging the use of blockchain technology could include micropayments to young people and families, innovative financing schemes related to education and health outcomes, and much more. We are only at the very beginning and it’s exciting to think of the possibilities that can help improve children’s lives.
What have been your greatest achievements this year?
Over the course of the year, we have gained valuable knowledge around digital assets, the opportunities and challenges they represent and what these technologies could achieve in the context of UNICEF’s work for children. Thanks to our partners, we also have raised sizable donations from the crypto community, which has proven to be very generous. This is especially true during the pandemic and particularly in the context of our worldwide COVAX initiative (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access), which aims at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for everyone.
What advice would you give to other organisations considering the adoption of cryptocurrency?
Take some time to reflect on the potential impact. If you are to adapt digital currencies, what would it look like and how could you make it work towards your goals. As the Luxembourg Committee for UNICEF has learned, the best way is to take a phased approach toward the use of cryptocurrencies by starting small and slowly and then gradually increasing the size and complexity of crypto transactions.
Code to Inspire
Our Project
We’ve partnered with Code to Inspire to launch a three month pilot project to fund and support young women in Afghanistan, who have lost their jobs as a result of the Taliban takeover, through computer education.
On August 15th Taliban forces took control of Afghanistan, they promised to respect women’s rights to continue going to school and work. However, evidence and reports from Afghans on the ground shows that Taliban’s policy hasn't changed regarding women’s activities outside home from what they implemented in the 90s. This means many women are unable to continue education or work, which has led to families where the women were the main breadwinner facing financial crisis.
Our Progress
According to data collected by Code to Inspire, the average monthly living cost in Afghanistan is around $200 per month. Our project is supporting 100 students and their families ( average of 5 people per family) by providing this monthly income to pay rent and medical bills, purchase food and Internet, whilst the young women can focus on their studies.
We’re supporting them in opening Trust Wallets, to which BUSD - a stable coin pegged with USD - will be directly transferred. Students can convert BUSD to local currency at local money exchanges. This will help overcome financial inclusion barriers these young women are facing such as banks not operating normally or even not having a bank account.
Fereshteh Forough
Founder and CEO of Code to Inspire
Hear From Our Partners
How did your partnership with Binance Charity begin?
After the Taliban took over Afghanistan this August and banned girls/women's education and work. Majority of our graduates/students who were the main breadwinner of the family lost their jobs, facing food insecurity, medical assistance and not being able to pay rent and other basic necessities. To help our students and their families during this tragic time we reached out to Binance charity to seek support in a fast and secure way that our students receive the fund first hand.Binance charity sponsored 100 students of our school with cash assistance for three months so that they can continue their education and be able to survive during this humanitarian crisis that’s happening in Afghanistan where half of the population is facing severe starvation
What inspired you to work with Binance Charity?
Binance Charity and Code to Inspire Share common values regarding improving gender equality through investing in quality education. We stand against inequality and work to make a sustainable ecosystem through innovative ideas using blockchain as a tool to empower individuals to gain financial freedom.
How do you think blockchain can help advance your organization’s mission?
At Code to Inspire we empower women in Afghanistan by helping them learn technical skills and pursue careers. Even once students have those skills, being paid and protecting their savings can be challenging. Blockchain technology like Bitcoin ensures we have a way for students and staff to send, receive, and save money even if traditional banking infrastructure is unavailable. We see the blockchain as leveling the playing field, removing middlemen, gatekeepers, and unfairness to finally allow anyone to participate in the economy.
What advice would you give to other organizations considering the adoption of cryptocurrency?
Don't let adopting cryptocurrency feel too intimidating. Thanks to all of the solutions that have become available in recent years, adopting crypto can be easy and not require advanced technical knowledge. Whether it's reducing fees on payments, diversifying your organization's treasury assets, or even raising awareness of your organization to a whole new segment of users, there are numerous potential benefits to embracing this new technology.
Our Planet, Our Legacy
- 658,884USD
- 355,084Trees
- 27Countries
Tree Millions
Our Project
The health of our planet is our legacy to generations still to come. This year we wanted to launch an environmental project to match our passion for the planet; introducing Tree Millions - our most ambitious project yet to plant 10 million trees worldwide, launched in September. However, it all started in celebration of Earth Day 2021, when we issued a new cryptocurrency called TREE on Binance Smart Chain and donated $1 million AUD to help restore Australia’s forests following the infamous bushfires.
Our Progress
In just a few months since launching we are active in 27 countries, spanning every continent. We’re working with three different execution partners and have an alliance of 25 members and counting - all pledging their commitment to Tree Millions. Together, we have already planted more than 350,000 trees.
Matt Hill
President and Chief Environmental Evangelist
Oksana Butramiieva
CEO of Mama Saves the Planet
Hear From Our Partners
What are you most excited about in the year ahead?
Some of our key objectives for 2022 include 1. Expanding our urban forestry program to support tree equity and environmental justice. Planting trees in urban environments will create greater access to green space to communities that need it most, and provide the benefits of trees such as cleaner air, health, and a space for kids to experience nature. 2. Developing our suite of monitoring technology in order to show the immediate and long-term impacts of reforestation, and growing our drones program which provides training to local partners on the ground in order to scale our global forest monitoring capabilities. And 3. Further growing our reforestation projects to support the ecological restoration of forests and the greater vision of a healthier and more sustainable planet.
How would you like to see this partnership develop?
Binance Charity has committed to supporting a wide range of reforestation projects across many different landscapes, focusing on where trees are needed most in order to have the greatest possible impact for the environment. This partnership has the potential for a truly global ecological restoration benefit. From the high Andes Polylepis forests to the Albertine Rift in Africa, from wildfire recovery to habitat expansion for biodiversity, the ultimate impact will be far-reaching and long-lasting.
Closing the Poverty Gap
- 1,425,984USD
- 15,083Beneficiaries
- 5Countries
Mama to the Rescue
Our Project
To this day, not a single country has yet achieved gender equality. Upskilling women, supporting entrepreneurship and leadership in business is key to helping fight inequality.
This year we launched our first female entrepreneurship project, Mama To The Rescue, which was designed to help rebuild the Kenyan economy while empowering women with new, sustainable, technical skills. We partnered with Tech+Love Foundation to raise money for new sewing machines so they could launch the #SewMasksForAll campaign, helping to produce important PPE, whilst also securing an income.
Our Progress
• $20,000 USD raised
• 10 brand new sewing machines donated
• 10 female entrepreneurs supported
Berkeley Lab for Inclusive FinTech and Big Ideas
Our Progress
VSLA Crypto to Cash Assistance
Millions of women and men across Africa participate in savings groups, consisting of years or decades of weekly savings, lending, borrowing, and collective investment. And yet, most of these groups do not use formal financial services, meaning their hard earned savings are subjected to only low-return, low security options, despite the potential and desire to achieve more. These groups are called Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).
Working with CARE, we’re supporting poverty stricken communities, who face even more adversity as a result of COVID-19. Through these savings groups, we’re empowering vulnerable people to grow opportunities and work together to improve their lives. We’ll be opening cryptocurrency wallets to established VSLAs and with an injection of crypto vouchers people will be able to invest in growing their enterprises.
Our Progress
• Seed funding donation of almost $245,000
• Helping 6,084 vulnerable people on economic recovery from COVID-19
• Pilot project in Kenya
Fight Hunger Worldwide
Hunger is a global issue, worsened by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we’re working with our network to tackle this at a local level. We’ve raised $68,350 to help run food distribution projects in Morocco, Nigeria and France and have helped 14,949 of people.
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Education for Strong Foundations
- 288,122USD
- 6,493Beneficiaries
- 960,406Meals
Lunch for Children
Our Project
Lunch for Children is one of our flagship programs. Hunger is the No. 1 health risk in the world — killing more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. By simply providing lunch, which costs as little as $0.30 for one meal for one child, we can give them a chance at securing the education they need for a brighter future. We open crypto wallets to families on behalf of the children, which allows beneficiaries to exchange BNB, BTC and ETH with food suppliers. Not only does this give the families control over their finances but it also means the entire process is recorded on the chain and totally accountable.
Our Progress
Our Lunch for Children programme and those benefiting from it greatly suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but we continued fundraising efforts and this year alone still managed to provide meals to more than 1600 students and their families. We look forward to running the programme again as it relaunches at full strength next year.
Hear From Our Partners
How has working with Binance Charity affected your organisation?
Working with Binance Charity, has enabled Tech Plus Love Foundation, to achieve one of its major objectives, which is to improve the standards of living for children and local communities through the power of technology. We’ve managed to achieve this through the Binance Lunch for children programme, where more than 6000 students and staff in Uganda, have been able to have daily local food meals while at school. Through blockchain technology crypto wallets are created for each beneficiary so they can receive the transfer of donation. This provides transparency and accountability which fosters trust in the organisation from stakeholders, beneficiaries and the community.
How would you like to see this partnership develop?
For the past two years, we’ve worked together to better the lives of thousands of people across Uganda as part of the Lunch for Children project. This has only been possible through blockchain and Binance Charity. I would love to see the partnership expand not only by scaling up the food programme but also introducing other educational projects that help empower children to reach their potential through technology.
What are you most excited about in the year ahead?
During this year, the education system in Uganda has been greatly affected by the covid-19 pandemic. Schools have been closed for most of the time in the year. Many people have not been able to receive the support they normally would when the schools are in operation. This has had a great impact on their lives and their families, especially for their most basic need for food. In the year ahead, schools across the country are expected to open again and with it, the return of our Lunch for Children programme. We are also expecting new students to register at school and we look forward to welcoming them for the first time to our programme.
What have been your greatest achievements this year?
Despite school closure due to the pandemic, the organisation has been able to still support some students, their families and the community. After schools were closed earlier this year, the program was put on a hold. Basic food items which had been delivered to schools, were stored and later distributed to communities living near the schools, this meant we were able to help almost 500 people by redistributing basic food items.
What’s been your greatest learning since our partnership began?
Now more than ever, we are deeply aware of the importance of transparency in NGO projects. Technological progress may bring about new challenges in the initial stage, but it will have a positive impact in the long run.
NFT for Good
The launch of NFT For Good a rolling campaign partnering with Hollywood stars and world famous artists to promote creativity with cause
The boom in NFT’s has seen unprecedented success, it has revolutionized the art industry and given back power to the creators. With this hot trend has also come a lucrative and exciting fundraising opportunity. In April we launched our NFT for Good campaign bringing world class artists together to ‘give back’ through the medium of digital art. Using Binance’s leading NFT Marketplace, each artist donates a percentage of their sales to projects dedicated to tackling our most challenging social and environmental issues.
This year we’ve held 9 NFT for Good auctions raising over $161,010 for charity. Top names include: Djimon & Laulu, Maye Mask and Jon Burgerman.
Jon Burgerman
Artist
Artist - Jon Burgerman
Jon Burgerman's art has been exhibited all over the world, including in the White House.It's his belief that through simple creative acts people can change not only their world but the world around them.
Through the art of NFT, Jon is supporting Lunch for Children, a flagship project for Binance Charity .
Our Partners
From Binance Charity with love
