121 Platform Product Page
14 September 2026
Sudan faces one of the world’s most complex humanitarian crises. Conflict has displaced millions, while climate-driven shocks compound vulnerability. In such a fragile landscape, cash assistance allows people to decide what they need most, offering autonomy amid uncertainty. But delivering cash across Sudan is extraordinarily difficult. Connectivity and liquidity fluctuate daily, and banks may or may not be operational in a given region. Recognising these challenges, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society decided to accelerate its cash assistance services through a digital system that supports fast, safe and flexible cash assistance in disrupted environments. The 121 Platform became central to this effort. This initiative was funded by the Danish Red Cross.
Local leadership driving digital transformation
For years, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society has worked with the Danish Red Cross, the German Red Cross, the Swedish Red Cross, the Swiss Red Cross, the Norwegian Red Cross and the Netherlands Red Cross to strengthen cash preparedness and build capacity. While partners provide technical support, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society remains firmly in the lead. Soon after a training by the Netherlands Red Cross on using the 121 Platform, the National Society began using 121 for real registrations in two regions. This immediate uptake reflected strong local ownership of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, and trust in a faster, safer system.
“I found 121 easy to understand, create payments and reconcile. In the future, we want to have an integrated system that covers data management and payment within the same platform.”
From scattered spreadsheets to one secure, shared system
Before the introduction of 121, cash assistance relied heavily on spreadsheets passed between branches and the National Society’s headquarters (HQ), with multiple document versions circulating at once. 121 has transformed this workflow. Volunteers can now register and validate remote households offline using a Kobo data collection form linked to the platform, making records appear directly in 121 as soon as they reconnect, so that HQ staff can clean and deduplicate data immediately. Branch teams now see caseloads in real time, while HQ keeps oversight of the full programme – all with role-based access to strengthen data protection. For the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, the entire cash process has become centralised, traceable and significantly faster.
“Using 121 makes simultaneous data cleaning at HQ and local branches possible. Editing is safer in 121, because you cannot just make changes in the data.”
Flexibility in a challenging environment
The Sudanese Red Crescent Society piloted the 121 Platform in two different operational contexts. In Red Sea State, severe flooding hit communities. Due to limited bank access, cash-in-hand was the only viable modality. Volunteers registered 516 households at the end of October 2025, and issued USD 173 per household shortly after.
In White Nile, where conflict-driven displacement continues, 200 internally-displaced persons with health concerns received support through USD 150 each via bank wires. Despite weak connectivity and unpredictable banking conditions, the 121 workflow allowed the team to confidently make the payments.
Both pilots were carried out with a 100% payment success rate, demonstrating a key strength of the platform: when liquidity shortages or banking constraints make one modality impossible, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society can flexibly switch to another without changing systems.
Faster, safer, ready to scale
Even with Sudan’s persistent challenges, data now flows faster from registration to payment. And for communities, assistance arrives quicker and more predictably. By providing a secure, flexible system that fits the realities of Sudan’s operational environment, 121 has helped the Sudanese Red Crescent Society transform the speed, safety and quality of its cash assistance. As the National Society prepares to expand the use of 121 to new areas, the message is clear: with strong local leadership and the right digital tools, even the toughest environments can transition from paper to a fast, safe and scalable cash system, improving dignity and responsiveness for communities when they need it most.
