An advertising agency from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a non-governmental organization have launched a campaign that seeks to raise funds for jailed Egyptian women via the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The funds raised are already being used to pay off their debts, allowing the imprisoned women to leave jail.
Raised Funds to Set Prisoners Free
The UAE-based advertising agency, Horizon FCB, has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) campaign that seeks to raise funds to free Egyptian women that were jailed for failing to pay off their debts. In this campaign, Horizon FCB has partnered with the non-governmental organization Children of Female Prisoners Association (CFPA).
According to a report published by Unlock Media, the imprisoned women were unable to pay off relatively small loans taken out to pay for medicine, emergencies, and other needs of their families, so they ended up in jail. The advertising agency’s general manager, Reham Mufleh, explained the rationale behind Horizon FCB’s decision to help. Mufleh said:
We created and launched a humane initiative, Breakchains with Blockchain, inspired by the reasons for their imprisonment, we created in collaboration with artists from around the world, NFTs. Each is designed to tell a woman’s story, the story of why she was sentenced. Each NFT is priced at the amount it will cost to free them from their sentence and give them a second chance at life.
As explained in the report, every year over 10,000 Egyptian women are sent to prison. Their only crime, according to the report, is failing to repay their loans. CEO of Horizon FCB Mazen Jawad says it is the heartbreaking stories of the jailed women and the plight of their families that prompted the advertising agency to start the campaign.
In addition to raising funds, Horizon FCB and its partner CFPA are also using the novelty of NFTs to raise awareness about the plight of jailed women and their families. On March 21, when the campaign was launched, three Egyptian mothers were reunited with their families after their debts were paid using funds raised from the sale of NFTs.
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