121 Platform Twopager
14 September 2026
When conflict, climate shocks and health crises converge, families face unimaginable challenges. In Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society is one of few organisations able to service conflict-affected regions due to its longstanding community trust. To meet urgent needs, the National Society launched a large-scale cash assistance programme, using the 121 Platform to provide relief worth €3 million to over 50,000 households across four conflict- and drought-affected regions: Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and Benishangul Gumuz. The initiative has been funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, in collaboration with the British Red Cross.
“121 helped us reach hundreds of people with cash payments securely and efficiently, and made my job much easier.”
Dignified support to people in crisis
The programme targets internally displaced persons, returnees and their host communities. Through cash assistance, families can prioritize what they need, when they need it. From food to medical care and shelter, households restore dignity and choice during a time of uncertainty.
This collaborative effort has been spearheaded by the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, enabling secure and timely transfers through two Ethiopian banks. Behind the scenes, the Netherlands Red Cross provides the technology backbone, offering ongoing support and troubleshooting in real time. Working together, even in complex, high-pressure environments, humanitarian actors can deliver assistance quickly, safely, and at scale.
“Before using 121, we had to send payment lists to the bank and wait for processing. Now we can initiate payments directly from the platform — even during public holidays or at night!”
121: a cash assistance all-rounder
The 121 Platform is a proven enabler for humanitarian response, and built for scale. When needs surge, 121 can scale without compromising speed or quality, making it ideal for emergency settings. And the numbers speak for themselves: the average time required for the Ethiopian Red Cross Society to deliver cash assistance dropped from 45 days to just 20, reaching 50,000 households with digital payments achieving 98.9% successful processing. The processing success rate is the result of high-quality datasets, resulting in low efforts for National Societies to go back into communities to correct banking information.
“121 made cash assistance faster, more transparent, and easier to manage, while reducing manual work and errors. In our day-to-day operations, it supported accurate registration, timely payments, and better accountability.”
Keeping data safe through role-based access
Managing sensitive data for 50,000 households is a feat, only possible through structured data management and role-based access controls to ensure the protection of sensitive data. With National Society staff seeing only what they need based on their role, data breach risks are reduced, setting a benchmark for responsible humanitarian tech.
“The data remains with us.”
Emergency-ready in just one week
In emergencies, every hour counts. The rapid integration with an Ethiopian bank, completed by the Netherlands Red Cross in one week, proves that 121 can reach the last mile even under pressure. When emergency strikes, organizations don’t have to wait months to start delivering assistance. Systems can go live within days, ensuring that cash reaches those who need it most when timing is critical.
“Validation used to be done at HQ. Now, with 121, regional and branch offices can validate directly. This has reduced time significantly.”
A breakthrough for Ethiopian cash assistance – and 121
Reaching an important milestone, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society’s programme is the largest ever implementation of the 121 Platform… for now. With structured data, robust security and rapid deployment, 121 enables organizations to respond effectively, even in complex settings. As the Ethiopian Red Cross Society looks ahead, this success reflects a growing recognition of digital tools as lifelines for the most vulnerable.
