The Blockchain for Human Rights, Highlights of the First Panel Discussion / Happy Birthday
Published on May 8, 2025 by Gabriela
🔊 Happy Birthday! Blockchain for Human Rights Partnership (April 12, 2025)
The first panel discussion at the "Blockchain for Human Rights Launch and Panel Discussions" in Zurich on April 12, 2024, delved into the critical intersection of blockchain technology, digital identity (ID), and human rights, particularly focusing on vulnerable populations like refugees, stateless individuals, and forcibly displaced persons. Here are the key takeaways:
1. Challenges in Access to Identification: The discussion underscored the systemic hurdles faced by vulnerable groups in obtaining legal identification, crucial for exercising basic human rights. Over a billion people globally lack proper identification, often due to state-actor monopolies or discriminatory practices.
2. Blockchain as a Solution: Experts explored how blockchain-based decentralized digital IDs could offer an equitable and secure alternative to traditional state-controlled systems. The discussion emphasized blockchain's potential to surmount barriers, ensure inclusivity, and guard against misuse by malicious state actors.
3. Risks and Ethical Concerns: Panelists raised awareness about risks linked to digital IDs, such as privacy breaches or deactivation issues (e.g., instances in India). They stressed the need for responsible implementation and global standards for decentralized digital IDs.
4. Global Collaboration: The event provided a platform to showcase successful case studies from various nations and brainstorm solutions for scaling blockchain-based digital ID systems worldwide. A call was made to forge partnerships among NGOs, governments, academia, and the private sector to advocate for the technology's inclusive and ethical use.
Panel composition: Prof. Dr. Tim Weingärtner (HSLU), Prof. Dr. Manfred Nowak (Global Campus of Human Rights), Mrs. Lea Hungerbühler (AsyLex), Alex Maaza (Cardano Foundation), Trevor Butterworth (Indicio) and Dr. Emrys Schoemaker (Caribou Digital, UNDP consultant) contributed their insights. Prof. Dr. Christine Kaufmann prepared the conclusions of this first panel. The panel was moderated by Dr. iur. Maria-Gabriela Sarmiento, LL.M, VP of Save My Identity SMID.
This media was published for the first time on LinkedIn on April 12, 2025. It contains images that captured the panelists expressions while highlighting their speech, including the conclusions prepared onsite. What we did publish a year ago was a full Conference Report.
The first panel discussion at the "Blockchain for Human Rights Launch and Panel Discussions" in Zurich on April 12, 2024, delved into the critical intersection of blockchain technology, digital identity (ID), and human rights, particularly focusing on vulnerable populations like refugees, stateless individuals, and forcibly displaced persons. Here are the key takeaways:
1. Challenges in Access to Identification: The discussion underscored the systemic hurdles faced by vulnerable groups in obtaining legal identification, crucial for exercising basic human rights. Over a billion people globally lack proper identification, often due to state-actor monopolies or discriminatory practices.
2. Blockchain as a Solution: Experts explored how blockchain-based decentralized digital IDs could offer an equitable and secure alternative to traditional state-controlled systems. The discussion emphasized blockchain's potential to surmount barriers, ensure inclusivity, and guard against misuse by malicious state actors.
3. Risks and Ethical Concerns: Panelists raised awareness about risks linked to digital IDs, such as privacy breaches or deactivation issues (e.g., instances in India). They stressed the need for responsible implementation and global standards for decentralized digital IDs.
4. Global Collaboration: The event provided a platform to showcase successful case studies from various nations and brainstorm solutions for scaling blockchain-based digital ID systems worldwide. A call was made to forge partnerships among NGOs, governments, academia, and the private sector to advocate for the technology's inclusive and ethical use.
Panel composition: Prof. Dr. Tim Weingärtner (HSLU), Prof. Dr. Manfred Nowak (Global Campus of Human Rights), Mrs. Lea Hungerbühler (AsyLex), Alex Maaza (Cardano Foundation), Trevor Butterworth (Indicio) and Dr. Emrys Schoemaker (Caribou Digital, UNDP consultant) contributed their insights. Prof. Dr. Christine Kaufmann prepared the conclusions of this first panel. The panel was moderated by Dr. iur. Maria-Gabriela Sarmiento, LL.M, VP of Save My Identity SMID.
This media was published for the first time on LinkedIn on April 12, 2025. It contains images that captured the panelists expressions while highlighting their speech, including the conclusions prepared onsite. What we did publish a year ago was a full Conference Report.