Middle East and North Africa
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Feasibility of Achieving Resilience by Linking Vulnerable Populations Receiving Humanitarian CVA to Development and Social Protection
Report
This report evaluates the capacities for establishing linkages between humanitarian CVA and state-led social protection in Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
Rapid Reflection on the Scale up of Cash Coordination- Türkiye/ Syria Earthquakes
Report
This rapid reflection piece looks at how cash coordination structures scaled up at the onset of the Türkiye/ Syria Earthquakes in February 2023. The short reports look at implications and good practices implemented by cash working groups in Türkiye, North West Syria, and Government-controlled areas of Syria; where they can also be relevant learning for other crises.
Locally-Led Responses to Cash and Voucher Assistance in the Middle East and North Africa: Barriers, progress and opportunities
Case Study
This research highlights moments of tension between the reported commitment of the humanitarian sector towards localization and the actual steps implemented to advance locally-led CVA. Subsequently, recommendations emphasize the responsibilities of the sector in order to expand locally-led approaches in an inclusive and practical way.
Investigating Operational Models for Multi-purpose Cash Delivery and Links to Social Protection: Spotlight on the Middle East and North Africa
Report
This piece of research looked at six case studies in the MENA region where CVA is being delivered at scale. It looked at the characteristics of the operational models of delivering multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA), and how that enables (or not) links with existing national social protection systems. The research found that there’s no one model that enables links between humanitarian MPCA...
Cash Working Group De-activation in Iraq
Case Study
The humanitarian context in Iraq has evolved significantly in the past years, advancing towards recovery and sustainability for the conflict-affected population. During 2022, the humanitarian coordination structure worked on a process to phase out, in line with the transitional context. Clusters and the Cash Working Group (CWG) designed exit strategies that concluded with their de-activation...
Multi-purpose cash assistance for Lebanese – Inter-agency Joint Learning Event Learning Brief
Case Study
On June 27th 2023, Mercy Corps co-organized with Acted, Concern and Oxfam a learning event on the implementation of Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) interventions for Lebanese. While the MPCA modality has been initiated and designed around the assistance to refugees, the provision of unconditional cash assistance for Lebanese is a recent development in the country. This requires an...
Cash for Rent Guidelines for Yemen
Guidelines and Tools
Since the start of a civil conflict in Yemen in March 2015, the country has remained in a state of emergency. Ongoing fighting and military activities have made it challenging for humanitarian workers to reach affected populations and meet their basic needs, such as food, water, and shelter. Displaced persons often live with relatives, friends, or in collective shelters that offer inadequate...
An Integrated Approach to Menstrual Hygiene Management: Awareness sessions and cash assistance for women and girls affected by crisis in Lebanon
Case Study
In 2022, UNFPA Lebanon worked with local partners to launch an integrated cash and awareness for menstrual hygiene management (MHM) initiative as a way to tackle the growing issue of period poverty amidst the country’s economic crisis. Through the pilot, over 2,600 vulnerable women and girls of reproductive age received cash assistance intended to cover the purchase of monthly menstrual...
UNFPA’s approach to CVA in the Arab region and Türkiye
Policy paper
UNFPA experience in different humanitarian contexts has shown that cash and voucher assistance (CVA) is a powerful instrument that can save lives, alleviate risks, and help women and girls escape abusive environments. By giving women and girls greater access to vital services and empowering them with the freedom to choose, UNFPA has found that CVA can directly contribute to the realisation of...
Conflict sensitive cash assistance in Lebanon: Conflict sensitivity toolbox 1
Guidelines and Tools
The Conflict Sensitivity Toolbox series is produced under UNDP Lebanon’s Tension Monitoring System. The toolbox forms part of the conflict sensitivity mainstreaming work under the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) and has been produced in collaboration with House of Peace. In 2021, three Lebanon-specific guidance notes were developed to provide partners with practical tips for getting...
Survival minimum expenditure basket, minimum expenditure basket, gap analysis and transfer values for cash programming
Case Study
The CWG in Iraq has updated the SMEB and has designed a new MEB and gap analysis to inform the transfer values for cash programming in 2023. This document is a technical note with the summary of the values and the methodology.
With the coordination and technical support of CashCap and the Data analysis of REACH-Initiative.
Integrating Cash Assistance into Gender-Based Violence Case Management to Support GBV Survivors and Individuals at Risk in Jordan
Case Study
With support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) and CARE are leading an initiative on behalf of the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) Task Team on Cash for Protection (TTC4P) to expand access among field-level
practitioners to the requisite knowledge, skills, guidance, and tools to integrate cash and voucher assistance (CVA) and...
Integrating Cash Assistance into Gender-based Violence Case Management to Support GBV Survivors and Individuals at Risk in Jordan Snapshot
Case Study
Jordan is home to the second largest refugee population per capita in the world. The country’s population of 10,571,602 includes more than 760,000 refugees registered with the UN refugee agency. More than 80 percent live in urban areas rather than in refugee camps.
A recent assessment by CARE Jordan found that the lack of income opportunities, COVID-19, and community conflict were the most...
Integrating Cash Assistance into Gender-based Violence Case Management: Learnings from Colombia, Ecuador, and Northwest Syria
Case Study
In 2020-2022, WRC partnered with CARE in three locations, Ecuador, Colombia and Syria, to better understand the use of CVA in GBV case management. In Guayaquil, Ecuador, WRC and CARE worked with
three Ecuadorian organizations to strengthen the capacity of GBV service providers to use CVA within case management in response to intimate partner violence for migrant, refugee, and local...
Leaving No One Behind: Evidence from Lebanon on How Multi-purpose Cash Beneficiaries with Different Vulnerability Profiles Spend Income and Access Services
Case Study
This study aims to generate a more in-depth and nuanced understanding of the impact of MPC assistance on Syrian refugee households with different vulnerability profiles, and explores how complementary interventions can support severely vulnerable households to meet their basic needs and address issues beyond the reach of cash. Generating evidence on this topic will support WFP, donors, and...
Transitioning out of Humanitarian Cash Assistance in Iraq: Critical Actions to Ensure Gender-based Violence Risks are Mitigated and Prevented throughout the Transition
Case Study
In light of ongoing efforts to transition away from humanitarian Cash assistance in Iraq, a two-day workshop took place in Erbil on June 22 which gathered more than 32 gender-based violence (GBV) and cash and voucher assistance (CVA) actors with the goal of identifying priorities for the transition period related to GBV mainstreaming in humanitarian Cash and Social Protection assistance. This...
From Risk to Choice: Cash within GBV Case Management in Jordan
Case Study
In 2021, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Jordan piloted the integration of cash assistance within gender-based violence (GBV) programming. The pilot targeted GBV survivors and women at risk of GBV – including Jordanians, Syrian refugees and refugees of other nationalities – within the framework of GBV case management. Two modalities were used: one-off Emergency Cash...
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Addressing Vulnerability? Cash Transfer Programming and Protection Outcomes for Out-of-Camp Syrian Refugees
Report
This report explores key issues concerning vulnerability, targeting, and protection in cash transfer programming (CTP) by analyzing a Danish Refuge Council (DRC) project in southern Turkey. It is based on an ongoing “action research” collaboration between DRC and the Feinstein International Center...
Electronic Cash Grants in Emergencies: Approaches and lessons learned
Report
Cash distributions in an emergency: A concept that seems so obvious today yet has only recently gained recognition within humanitarian response programming for its speed, efficiency and—above all—effectiveness.
This document provides a snapshot for humanitarian response peers on best practices,...
A Review of Evidence of Humanitarian Cash Transfer Programming in Urban Areas
Report
Urban poor populations frequently experience disasters of varying typology and intensity. When set against a backdrop of poverty and marginalisation, their needs can be complex. As recent urban crises have pushed humanitarian agencies to respond in urban areas, this literature review examines the...
A Review of Evidence of Humanitarian Cash Transfer Programming in Urban Areas: Annexes
Report
Annexes to accompany the working paper ‘A review of evidence
of humanitarian cash transfer programming in urban areas”
Cash Transfer Program in Northern Syria
Report
Humanitarian needs, both in Syria and neighbouring countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq), have rapidly increased since the beginning of the conflict. The Aleppo governorate, as one of the county’s most populated areas with a total population of 4,670,000, has suffered from the consequences...
Remittances to Syria: What works, where and how
Report
This study sought to understand remittance flows into Syria, and established that various Informal Value Transfer Systems (IVTS) are used, to the exclusion of the formal banking sector. Registered and unregistered hawala, courier services and family connections are used. Remittances have played an...
Annex B: Lebanon Case Study
Report
Cash and vouchers are increasingly provided as assistance to people affected by disaster and crisis. Studies and evaluations have firmly established that cash transfers can be an appropriate alternative or complement to in-kind assistance. Whilst some evidence exists on the Value for Money (VfM) of...
The Yemen Cash Transfer Programme
Report
This case study shows how Oxfam used social welfare fund lists and the Post Office system to distribute funds and rebuild donor trust. In October 2011, Oxfam partnered with the Social Welfare Fund and the Post Office in Al Hodeidah governorate in Yemen to deliver cash transfers to vulnerable households...
The Impact of Oxfam’s Cash Distributions on Syrian Refugee Households in Host Communities and Informal Settlements in Jordan
Report
Given the absence of viable alternatives to cash transfer programmes (CTPs) in Jordan, such programmes will certainly continue for the foreseeable future. It is crucial to review their impact to date in order to identify common issues and lessons learned and adjust programmes accordingly. The present...
Emergency Economies: The impact of cash assistance in Lebanon
Report
An impact evaluation of the 2013-2014 winter cash assistance program for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. This report describes the impacts of the winter cash transfer program run by UNHCR and partners from November 2013 to April 2014. The program gave $575 USD via ATM cards to 87,700 registered Syrian...
Cash for Work Programmes Standard Operating Procedures – Lebanon
Guidelines and Tools
The document intends to define the roles of responsibilities of all the actors involved in the Cash for Work (hereinafter CfW) activities being developed by Action Contre la Faim (hereinafter ACF) and his partners in Lebanon.
Cash for Work Fact Sheet – Lebanon
Guidelines and Tools
The following fact sheet outlines: – Why opt for CFW intervention in South Lebanon – Selection of beneficiaries, Daily wage rate and Logistics – Implementing CFW in Lebanon
PCPM’s Cash for Shelter Program in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon: Evaluation and lessons learned
Report
The aim of this report is to provide an evaluation of the activities of Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM) cash for shelter programme in the Akkar district in Lebanon. The evaluation has been focused on the long-term results of the humanitarian aid provided by PCPM to the Syrian refugees in Akkar...
Humanitarian Response to Urban Crises: Workshop Report
Report
The UK government’s Humanitarian Emergency Response Review recognised that ‘the concentration of populations in urban areas will change the nature of many humanitarian disasters.’ii DFID is exploring how it can increase understanding, confidence and capability to prepare for and respond to urban...
Guidelines for Conditional Cash-for Rent Assistance for Syrian Refugees in Jordan
Guidelines and Tools
The objective of these guidelines is to inform Shelter sector partners of best practices for implementing conditional cash-for-rent assistance targeting Syrian refugees in the host communities. These guidelines have been developed by a taskforce of the Shelter Working Group.
Scoping study – Emergency cash transfer programming in the WaSH and shelter sectors
Report
Over the past few years, the dialogue on cash transfer programming has progressed beyond initial debates about whether distributing cash and vouchers is a valid response modality at all to a general acceptance of their added value in appropriate contexts. Beyond the livelihoods and food...
Humanitarian crises, emergency preparedness and response: The roles of business and the private sector – final report and case studies from Indonesia, Kenya, Jordan and Haiti
Report
The private sector has long been a major contributor to humanitarian action. At the community level, businesses frequently use their materials and resources to aid people affected by crises. As local markets recover and supply chains are repaired, crisis-affected people are once again able to access basic...
Economic Impact Study: Direct and indirect impact of the WFP food voucher programme in Jordan
Report
The intent of this study is to estimate the economic benefits of the food voucher programme implemented by the World Food Programmeme (WFP) for Syrian refugees in Jordan. The study employs a two pronged approach whereby the first component provides an analysis of the supermarkets that participate in...
Against the Grain: The Cereal Trade in Darfur
Report
WFP began to pilot food vouchers in Darfur in 2010 as an alternative to general food distribution. The main purpose of the voucher program is greater cost-efficiency for WFP, increased choice for beneficiaries, and strengthening of markets. It is also expected to create market multiplier effects and...
Development of a Framework for Multipurpose Cash Assistance to Improve Aid Effectiveness in Lebanon: Support to the Market Assessment and Monitoring Component
Report
The objective of the three market assessments presented in this report is to provide the interagency cash transfer programming working group (CTPWG) with meaningful and actionable information on the market impact of cash assistance in Lebanon. This report is also intended to inform decision making on...
