The Voucher programme in the Gaza Strip – Mid-term review

The WFP voucher project is part of the emergency operation (EMOP 10817.0) to assist the recovery of the population affected by the conflict in Gaza Strip. WFP emergency operation has the following objectives:

• Meet urgent needs and improve the food consumption for conflict-affected people targeted beneficiaries (WFP Strategic Objective 1 “Save lives and protect livelihoods in emergencies”) through the timely provision of food rations or cash vouchers for food commodities.
• Maintain enrolment of girls and boys in assisted schools at pre-crisis levels (WFP Strategic Objective 3 “Restore and rebuild lives and livelihoods in post conflict situations”) through school feeding coverage.

WFP is assisting 313,000 non-refugee beneficiaries until end of April 2011 and at 295,000 beneficiaries from May 2011 onwards. The targeted beneficiaries are social hardship cases, vulnerable groups (including internally displaced people) and school children in public schools.

The pilot UVP implemented in partnership with OXFAM GB started mid-October 2009.  It targets 2,335 households, representing around 15,000 beneficiaries in urban areas of North Gaza, Gaza City and Khan Younis governorates in the Gaza Strip. The vouchers (256 NIS per household per month) are redeemed in 23 shops and a range of 10 food commodities is proposed against the vouchers.

The review has been commissioned by WFP and Oxfam GB with the aim to assess how effectively the voucher project is meeting project objectives and whether vouchers are an appropriate transfer modality in the context of the Gaza Strip. The specific objectives are to review the current voucher implementation modality, to compare the cost-effectiveness of voucher compared to the general food distribution, and to propose recommendations for the design of the UVP component in the next WFP Gaza operation.