This article is based on a post by Scott Santens, and quotes extensively from it, New information was also obtained today from an article by Violetta Orlova forwarded by a Russian BIEN activist born in Ukraine, Alexander Soloviev.
On December 19, 2021, Ukraine launched “ePidtrymka” which translates to eSupport. It was launched on Diia which is a smartphone app and web portal that itself was launched in February 2020 to function as a means of storing and sharing digital versions of documents, and also making government services available digitally instead of requiring in-person interactions only. Diia made it possible for Ukrainians to prove their vaccination status as one of the over 50 services that is now available on Diia.
Because ePidtrymka is a service that rewarded people for getting vaccinated, there are people claiming that the “Great Reset” has just begun in Ukraine with the trifecta of universal basic income, vaccination, and social credits. What Ukraine is doing does not meet BIEN’s definition of a basic income, but it nevertheless may represent an important step towards a UBI.
What Ukraine did initially was to provide people with 1,000 UAH which is about $34. However, vaccinated Ukrainians couldn’t spend it on anything, because it was also meant as a stimulus program designed to help businesses most hurt by the pandemic. Because places like restaurants and gyms suffered the most financial loss during the height of the pandemic, ePidtrymka cards could only be used at those kinds of businesses. Other possible purchases were books, concerts, theaters, museums, and transport. The point was to help these businesses out of the hole Covid put them in while also encouraging vaccination, which actually makes a lot of sense considering those same businesses were hurt the most because they’re the places where Covid gets transmitted the most. It would be bad for these businesses to suddenly get a lot of unvaccinated customers and lead to another Covid spike.
Additionally, cashback debit and credit cards function in a very similar way, where different kinds of purchases result in different reward levels. It’s also somewhat similar to EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards (aka food stamps) that can be used to only buy certain foods, but not all foods. There was also a time limit added to the vaccination reward, where it needed to be spent within four months or forfeited. This again was meant as a stimulus, encouraging people to spend instead of save in order to more quickly grow the Covid-impacted economy.
Further, Ukraine was planning on making the ePidtrymka program available offline in 2022 instead of only available online and via the app. It was never intended to only be available online. On January 24, 2022, there was the first expansion to the ePidtrymka program, which enabled those over 60 to spend their rewards on medicines too. This was soon followed on February 7 by extending the rewards to everyone over age 14 and also expanding available spending to “educational services, children’s extracurricular activities, staying in a summer or sports children’s camp, sporting goods, stationery, and school supplies.” This was then followed on February 14 by expanding purchases to housing and communal services for those over age 60.
The next expansion of the program was scheduled to happen on March 14 with the introduction of an additional 500 UAH (about $17) to reward people for getting a booster shot, and also the ability of those with disabilities to spend their rewards on medicine, housing, and communal services too, but then Putin sent Russian troops over the border to take over Ukraine. Thus the next expansion of the program ended up being the ability of everyone in Ukraine with ePidtrymka rewards they hadn’t yet spent to donate their funds to the Ukrainian military.
This was soon followed by the lifting of all restrictions on spending. Since March 2, as a result of the war, all Ukranians with ePidtrymka rewards have been able to spend their rewards exactly as cash, on anything they feel is best or they most need. And on March 8, an additional 6,500 UAH ($220) was added through the ePidtrymka system to every employee in the most war-impacted areas for whom USC is paid (their version of Social Security), including every entrepreneur, without any vaccination requirements applied, and without any limitations on spending – including time restrictions.
An Advisor to the President of Ukraine on economic issues, Oleg Ustenko, said on April 2 that the Ukrainian government is considering the possibility of introducing an unconditional basic income for the population.
That is, the regular payment by the state of a certain amount from the budget to each citizen just like that – without any conditions and the need to work for the money received. Ustenko did not specify what amount he was talking about.
“The possibility of introducing the so-called unconditional income for the population for a long time is being considered – it was discussed before the war, but did not find support, now it should and will work…. This issue is not just being considered, we already have an understanding of where to move in this direction,” Ustenko said.
Summarizing, Ukraine innovated a way of more productively administering government programs. One of those programs was a small one-time reward for getting vaccinated against Covid that was meant to support those sectors of Ukraine’s economy that suffered the most from quarantine restrictions. That program then served as a means of helping the people of Ukraine in a time of national emergency in a way that wouldn’t have otherwise been as quickly implementable. Thanks to the plumbing already existing, Ukraine was able to use those pipes to instantly get money to the people of Ukraine that they could spend on anything they need, vaccinated or not, during an invasion by Russia.
Dr. Markus Schlagnitweit, Director of the Catholic Social Academy Austria, has written an article about Catholic teaching and theory and basic income. Several statements of Pope Francis about basic income were reviewed.
In his paper, Schlagnitweit rejects the claim that the basic income violates principles of Catholic social teaching. To the contrary, basic Income is not only compatible with the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity and personal dignity, but it also strengthens them. Furthermore, implementation of an unconditional and universal basic income can help reduce social injustice and other distortions resulting from employment at market-determined wages and a narrow definition of work.
Uncondtional und universal basic Income, which ensures livelihood and social participation, is a fundamental right, according to Markus Schlagnitweit.
Social Europe is an influential blog that some years ago published some articles both for and against Basic Income that Philippe Van Parijs edited into a book. The blog has now returned to the subject with a new post, A European basic income?
The ethos is now positive rather than somewhere between negative and hesitant as in the past. But note that the basic income proposed does not meet BIEN’s definition, as the payments are tapered above a median income and apparently must be actively applied for by those with incomes above the median: “To discourage the wealthy from actually claiming UBI if they do not need it, starting at the national median income automatic payouts would be tapered at a linear rate with increasing income. In principle, everyone could still claim their UBI regardless, but unclaimed funds would be channelled into the sovereign-wealth fund. Such a universal right to income would be more in line with progressive ideals than a universal income paid out automatically without exceptions.”
An interesting feature of the proposal is the following: “If European progressives choose to embrace UBI, it should be at EU level, administered by the union and paid directly to every adult EU denizen each month. Minors’ caregivers should receive a reduced payout, with the remaining amount accruing to a European sovereign-wealth fund. Part of this accumulated residue would be paid out to individuals as a lump sum of starting capital once they reached maturity, with part retained in the sovereign-wealth fund to help fund the scheme over the long run.”
The SecondOnline International Basic Income March was a 24 hours long, non-stop, online, and international event organized and facilitated by Worldwide Meetings of UBI Advocates and UBI Networks. It was held on 25September 2021, during the 13th International Basic Income Week(as a participation in the Third Basic Income March). The online march featured the contributions and participation of hundreds of UBI Advocates from tens of countries throughout the world.
The event started at GMT 00:01 and finished at GMT 23:59. During the online march, all kinds of indoor and/or outdoor activities in favor of UBI were welcome. While sweeping the time zones, almost seventy different contributions were received from different countries and the contributions were made in more than 12 different languages, including Japanese, English, German, Russian, Turkish, French, Chinese, Hungarian, and Spanish.
While UBI advocates, supporters, activists, researchers, and politicians were participating in the event, live connections also were made to several physical/real Basic Income Marches (or events) in several countries.
The SecondOnline International Basic Income March was organized by Working Group #62 of the Worldwide Meetings of UBI Advocates and UBI Networks. Some of the contributors are: Ali Mutlu KÖYLÜOĞLU – Turkey; Robin KETELARS – Netherlands; Valerija KOROSEC – Slovenia; Furui CHENG – China; Michaela KERSTAN – Germany; Ahn HYOSANG – South Korea; Claudia LEDUC – Canada; Eric SZABO – Hungary; Eriko OKANOUCHI – Japan; Kaori KISHI – Japan; Ryosuke NAKAMURA – Japan; Alexander de ROO – Netherlands; Klaus SAMBOR – Austria; John MILLS – Canada; Annie MILLER – Scotland, UK, Reinhard HUSS – UK; Luc GOSSELIN – Canada; Erica WRIGHT – USA; Kimberly WOODS – USA; Tyler PROCHAZKA – Taiwan; Javier GINER – Spain; Raihere MARUHI – France; Jaanus NURMOJA – Estonia; Evamaria LANGER-DOMBRADY – Hungary; Su JIA-KUAN – Taiwan; Irina SOLOVIEVA – Russia; Alexander SOLOVIEV – Russia, Michael HAINES – Australia, Laura BANNISTER – UK.
It is important to note that, as in other activities of the Worldwide Meetings of UBI Advocates and UBI Networks, the Second Online International Basic Income March was carried out entirely by the efforts and contributions of volunteer UBI Advocates and UBI Networks, without financial resources from any third party.
Considering the very limited mateConsidering the very limited material, financial, and human resources and the relatively short lifespan (as a movement) of the Basic Income Movement, it is very helpful to share experiences, and knowledge between UBI Advocates around the world. The aim of the Worldwide Meetings of UBI Advocates and UBI Networks is to promote communication, interaction, and collaboration between UBI Advocates and UBI Networks.
Taking this opportunity, we would like to recall some definitions of the word MARCH:
• «to move in a direct purposeful manner: PROCEED»
• «to make steady progress: ADVANCE»
• «to move along steadily usually with a rhythmic stride and in step with others»
We are looking forward to seeing you and receiving your contributions during the Third Online International BASIC INCOME March, to be held in September 2022.
Villagers gathered to celebrate their basic income in the local church building
By: Billy Juma Munda, Evans Ododa, Lena Stark
Kowiti-A is a small village in Kisumu County in Kenya. It is twenty-three kilometres away from Kisumu town and has a population of 782 people of which 415 are adults and 367 are children below 18 years. Most of the people are engaged in farm-related livelihood activities. The village population is distributed among six clans. The nearest town Ahero is about 3 kilometres from the village.
About a year ago, two teachers from this village made a chance acquaintance, through social media, with members of an organisation called Mission Possible 2030 (MP2030). The context was basic income. They had heard about the idea of basic income from a local politician and began exploring it on the internet, only to realise that a global movement for it exists. MP2030 believes that without waiting for nation states to implement a basic income policy, we should start implementing a basic income by mobilising both individual donors and communities. This conversation led to MP2030 launching a project in Kowiti called Equalize in a humble way. From September 2020, the project gave a basic income of about 1100 Kenyan Shillings(KES) (10 US Dollars) per month to 10 people randomly selected through a raffle.
To facilitate money transfers, the teachers formed a local community-based organisation called Rural Action CBO (RACBO) so that it is a community initiative and money transfers happen in a transparent way. MP2030 transferred money to RACBO which in turn transferred to individuals via M-PESA, which is the popular mobile money transfer platform in Kenya.
These ten people received money for about eleven months, when another chance acquaintance gave a big boost to the project. This time the acquaintance took place between MP2030 and impact Market. impactMarket is a decentralized poverty alleviation protocol built by impactLabs, a company based in Portugal. It uses blockchain technology to enable any vulnerable community to implement poverty alleviation mechanisms, such as for instance, an Unconditional Basic Income. The protocol uses Celo Dollars, or cUSD, a stable-coin whose value is pegged to the US Dollar.
Ordinarily, you need an app for it and therefore a smartphone. As most of the villagers have no smartphone in Kowiti-A, collaboration with Fintech partners Refugee Integration Organisation and Kotanipay were needed to make sure the villagers would receive a currency they can actually use for buying goods and services: Kenyan Shillings – KES.
M-pesa outlet in Kowiti-A
Money transfers in Kenya are relatively easy, because of the widespread use of m-pesa, a mobile payment system. After the so-called USSD integration (where the CELO dollars are exchanged for KES in the background), someone with a sim card can receive KES, and withdraw cash at an m-pesa shop in the village. One phone can have two sim cards, so two people can receive per phone line. it is not entirely without intermediaries yet, but less than 6% is lost in the transfer from CELO dollar to cash-KES.
Because of the collaboration with Impact Market and its Fintech partners, the process accelerated very quickly and by mid-August about 240 adults began getting a basic income of 7 USD a week. By end September 2021, all the 415 adults will get the basic income for a period of one year. The total amount allocated to Kowiti project is 166,000 US Dollars, i.e., KES 18.28 million. Each individual will get a total amount of KES 44,000 (USD 400). If this sounds unbelievable, the results that will flow from this initiative will be more so, several times over.
What kind of basic income is it?
It is very interesting and also surprising that this humble project almost fulfils all the five main characteristics of the BIEN’s definition of basic income.
Universal: Basic income is given to the entire adult population. Children are not included more for technical reasons – in the smart contract adopted by ImpactMarket only those who have a mobile phone line can be provided money.
Cash: The recipient encashes the transfer into the national currency at any m-pesa store in the village
Individual: Money is transferred to individuals and not households.
Periodic: Money is transferred once a week.
Unconditional: There are no conditions whatsoever that the recipients need to fulfil after having received the money.
What does this money mean for these villages?
Based on a 2015 household budget survey, Kenya defines its overall poverty line in rural areas as an individual per capita monthly consumption expenditure of less than 3252 KES (USD 30), and extreme poverty as per capita consumption expenditure less than 1954 KES (USD 18).
In this project, the recipients receive a monthly top up of 3000 KES (USD 28) which is a substantial boost to their income levels. In this first month of receiving the money, it was observed that many people who never used to eat a breakfast, have begun to eat breakfast. Food seems to be where the money is visibly going. In the coming months, this project is certainly going to have a big impact on the lives and livelihoods of the people of Kowiti-A. These narratives will be published on the website of Mission Possible 2030 in the coming months.
Billi Juma Munda and Evans Ododa are teachers living in Kowiti-A. Lena Stark is the Chair of Mission Possible 2030. For more information about the project, write to Lena at lena@missionpossible2030.com
