Catholic Relief Services
14 January 2020
Contributions
Cash and Voucher Assistance to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition Outcomes in Emergency Contexts of Nigeria
Case Study
In Nigeria, nearly 12 per cent of children under 5 years are wasted according to the National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey (2021). Wasting is largely concentrated in the North with 58 per cent of all cases residing there. In the Northeast and Northwest regions of Nigeria, the prevalence of wasting is 17 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively. In 2023, it was projected that nearly...
July 2023
Savings Groups in Emergencies Learning Brief
Guidelines and Tools
We know that savings groups work – and that they are powerful. But, in emergencies, we must revisit some of our approaches and assumptions. Integrating savings groups into more humanitarian programming – and doing it better – holds significant potential to improve the outcomes of humanitarian aid. In 2021, 8 organizations – committed to improving and understanding this process – came...
19 September 2022
Savings Groups in Emergencies Training Slide Deck
Guidelines and Tools
This Training Slide deck provides actionable guidance to organizations to promote or work with Savings Groups in emergency settings. We know that Savings Groups work – and that they are powerful. But, in emergencies, we must revisit some of our approaches and assumptions. Integrating Savings Groups into more humanitarian programming – and doing it better – holds significant potential to...
19 September 2022
Inter-Agency Humanitarian Cash for Work Guidelines: Afghanistan
Guidelines and Tools
Forty years of war, recurrent natural disasters, chronic poverty, drought, and the COVID-19 pandemic have left more than 24 million people in Afghanistan in need of humanitarian assistance . Over the years Afghanistan has experienced massive destruction of basic infrastructure, health and educational facilities, commercial buildings, private houses, and agricultural assets. Several assessments...
September 2022
Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis: Linking humanitarian Cash and Social Protection in practise
Report
This paper seeks to demonstrate practical ways in which NGOs are linking their humanitarian work to social protection and the added importance of this in the context of COVID-19, following from the earlier work of CCD outlining the role of NGOs to
improve the access to and delivery of social protection in crises and the COVID-19 advocacy paper. This is written for signatories of the Grand...
27 July 2020
Savings Groups and COVID-19
Guidelines and Tools
COVID-19 poses crucial health and economic risks for Savings Groups as
markets falter, mobility is restricted, and community gathering is restrained. As many members are women, they are likely
to be primary caregivers during the health crisis, which puts them at special risk of additional burdens, as well as increased risk of intimate partner and sexual violence.
These recommendations will...
April 2020
Collaborative Cash Delivery (CCD) Network Global Collaboration Agreement
Guidelines and Tools
The annual meeting of the Grand Bargain (GB) – a facilitation group made up of global humanitarian leaders from Sweden, the US, OCHA, UNICEF, IFRC and InterAction – held on 27th June saw the presentation of a letter of intent endorsed by the CEOs of the Collaborative Cash Delivery (CCD) Network partnership. The 15 international non-governmental organisations operate in every crisis context...
2019
Greece Cash Alliance: Building an Evidence Base on Operational Models for the Delivery Of CTP
Report
The primary aim of this case study is to map out aspects of the Greece Cash Alliance (GCA) operational model influencing key drivers of quality (effectiveness, efficiency and accountability) in the delivery of multipurpose cash grants (MPGs). The GCA was launched in April 2017 with funding from ECHO, in an effort to harmonize the various MPGs implemented in Greece under a single platform...
March 2018
Increasing resilience to natural disasters with cash-based interventions
Report
This report presents recommendations for the ongoing development and improvement of CTP in emergency preparedness and response in Vietnam. It is hoped that these best practices, lessons learned and recommendations will contribute to the wider global discussions on the use and impact of CTP to increase resilience to natural disasters. We hope this learning can lead to a set of priorities that...
2018
British Virgin Islands Joint Cash Platform Evaluation: Building an evidence base on operational models for the delivery of cash transfer programming
Report
The main aim of this evaluation is to map out and analyse aspects of the British Virgin Islands Joint Cash Platform (JCP) Operational Model (OM) influencing key drivers of MPG response quality analysing aspects of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability. The study methodology is based on the CALP Network’s Analytical Framework on Operational Models for the delivery of Cash Transfer...
2018
British Virgin Islands Joint Cash Platform: Case study for learning on collaborative cash programmes
Report
The British Virgin Island (BVI) Joint Delivery Platform (JCP) is an effective model for learning around collaboration, developed at the onset of the humanitarian response, to deliver a small-scale emergency and early recovery cash based response, in a context without previous cash response experience. The BVI JCP mission statement was “using an economy of scale, partners can reach more...
2018
Evaluation Brief: Experience and Learning from Pilots of Good Practices in Humanitarian Market Analysis
Guidelines and Tools
As part of the “Improving the Uptake of Humanitarian Market Analysis” project, the IRC, CRS and Mercy Corps teamed up to pilot practices that were thought to help humanitarian teams better understand and use market information in programming. In Niger and Nigeria, IRC and CRS teams explored how incorporating non-price indicators into market monitoring could provide a more comprehensive...
2018
Taking Market Analysis Beyond Theory: Practices that Facilitate the Use of Market Information in Humanitarian Programming
Guidelines and Tools
Although strong examples of emergency programming that considers and responds to local market dynamics are out there, they are relatively few in number, and there is no consolidated review of these programs to inform good practice. Under the Improving the Uptake of Market Analysis project, a USAID/OFDA-funded effort that IRC conducted in partnership with Mercy Corps and CRS, the IRC reviewed...
2018
Market-based Food Assistance in Guatemala: A Systematization of Experiences
Guidelines and Tools
In April 2017, at the request of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Food for Peace (FFP) in Guatemala, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Project Concern International (PCI) designed a process to gather and synthesize the experiences of food assistance implementers in Guatemala. The main purpose of this systematization was to draw out a simple...
2018
Market Support Interventions in Humanitarian Contexts – a Tip Sheet
Guidelines and Tools
This tip sheet defines what market support programming in humanitarian contexts is, and what it can look like in practice. It enables humanitarian practitioners to systematically consider market support interventions alongside other programme activities. The scope includes support interventions focusing on supply/availability and on demand/access. The tip sheet is based on secondary data...
2018
Supporting markets in emergencies. Scoping study
Report
A review of recent humanitarian interventions that support local markets in emergency contexts revealed a limited scope and breadth of this type of activity. While many agencies show good creativity and understanding of market systems in emergencies, most activities are in the form of small grants to traders, to help them recover and to facilitate access to markets for...
May 2017
Northeast Nigeria joint livelihoods and market recovery assessment
Report
Mercy Corps Nigeria, in conjunction with Action Against Hunger, Cooperazione Internazionale, Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee and Oxfam undertook the assessment across the three most affected states in Northeast Nigeria; Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, to better understand post-insurgency livelihood and market recovery strategies and identify opportunities for future...
2017
Cash or in-kind? Why not both? Response Analysis Lessons from Multimodal Programming
Report
This research reviews lessons learned about response analysis from multimodal responses, that is, responses in which practitioners determined that more than one response modality between cash,vouchers, and in-kind, was a “best fit” or in which the conclusions about “best fit” changed over the course of the project. The research hypothesizes that comparing the reasons for choosing...
2017
Delivery Mechanism Mapping for Cash Based Interventions in Cox’s Bazaar Bangladesh
Report
The ‘Delivery Mechanism Mapping for Cash Based Interventions (CBI) in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh’ was conducted in December 2017 by a ‘Cash Champion’ deployed from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) with the support of the Global Shelter Cluster and ECHO, and involved consultations with numerous stakeholders including Financial Service Providers (FSPs), agencies delivering assistance in...
2017
Using Cash for Shelter: An Overview of CRS Programs
Report
Cash continues to gain prevalence as a modality for humanitarian agencies to help people meet multiple and diverse needs in the wake of a crisis. It provides people with the dignity of choice, and is often significantly more cost-efficient than the delivery of in-kind aid. In programs with a shelter focus, cash may be given to project participants to access rental homes; to buy shelter...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Cash Transfer for Transitional Shelter
Case Study
An earthquake measuring 7.6 magnitude struck near the coast of West Sumatra, Indonesia, on September 30, 2009, affecting over 1.25 million people. Catholic Relief Services conducted rapid needs assessments in October 2009, identifying shelter as the most urgent need. Over 80 percent of the houses in some villages had been totally destroyed, with the remainder being moderately damaged and...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Displaced and Recent Returnee Households Invite Recovery in Eastern DRC (DRIVE) Internal Conflict and Displacement
Case Study
The Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC, has endured multiple conflicts since 1996, including armed conflict in Eastern DRC in 2012 and 2013. In December 2014, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the DRC reported that the armed conflict had internally displaced 2.72 million people. For the next few years, over 58 percent of internally displaced people...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Flood Emergency Response in Serbia
Case Study
The devastating floods that affected the Balkans in May 2014 affected 1.6 million people, 22 percent of Serbia’s population, and have set the country’s economic development back decades. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) conducted rapid assessments in 13 villages in the municipalities of Šabac, Valjevo, Ub, Kraljevo and Smederevska Palanka, finding significant damage to homes (including mud...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Malawi Floods and Rains Recovery Program
Case Study
In January 2015, heavy rainstorms and floods affected 630,000 people in Malawi. Protracted immersion or flow of water damaged or destroyed dwellings and displaced over 170,000 people, with timber and roofing material also lost to the floods. Catholic Relief Services conducted a physical survey of Phalombe, Zomba and Machinga districts to assess damage and needs, including interviews with...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Project Daijok ("Helping Each Other")
Case Study
After a major earthquake in the Philippines in October 2013, Catholic Relief Services reached 5,000 families with emergency shelter materials, water and hygiene kits, and emergency latrines. In November 2013, CRS staff conducted a housing and market assessment in three of the worst‑hit municipalities of Bohol province: Antequera, Inabanga and Sagbayan. Based on identified needs and the local...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Rent Assistance for Syrian Refugees
Case Study
Over 600,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Jordan since 2011; 80 percent of these live in urban or peri-urban locations rather than in camp settings. Families in this situation must pay rent for their shelter, and are therefore subject to shifts in rental market values. Rents have inflated substantially due to massive increases in demand, which has also affected low-income Jordanians. Due to...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Windows of Slovyansk
Case Study
After pro-Russian separatists declared republics in Eastern Ukraine in April 2014, Slovyansk became a focal point of fighting between government forces and rebels until the Ukrainian military retook the city in early July. Slovyansk saw the heaviest fighting of any urban area and many city dwellers fled. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported 101,617 internally displaced...
2016
Using Cash for Shelter: Winter Resilience for IDPs in Eastern Ukraine
Case Study
Continued conflict in Eastern Ukraine during 2014 caused internal displacement of over 1.46 million people by September 2015, and another 1,123,800 fled to other countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Rapid assessments carried out by Catholic Relief Services found that the majority of internally displaced people, or IDPs, fled their homes with few...
2016
Appropriateness and Impact of Cash Grants Distribution in Eastern Ukraine
Case Study
This programming note assesses the appropriateness and impact of cash grants distribution in Eastern Ukraine. Key findings Distribution of cash grants of US$250 – US$900 via bank transfer allowed beneficiaries to purchase or pay for a wide variety of items or services, including food, medication or medical expenses, rent/utilities, and clothing, and in doing so prioritize their...
2016
MARKit: Price monitoring, analysis and response kit
Guidelines and Tools
The Price Monitoring, Analysis and Response Kit (MARKit) was developed by representatives from the Local Regional Procurement (LRP) Learning Alliance to guide food assistance practitioners through the steps to monitor markets during the implementation of food assistance programs, and to ensure that programs remain responsive to changing market conditions. This manual is intended to guide users...
2015
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Cash-Based Food Assistance Projects: A case study and discussion paper of findings in Niger
Report
Despite recent and expanding literature on cost effectiveness and value for money, there is little by way of guidance for the implementation of cost-effectiveness analysis in humanitarian and development programming. This report distills findings from the literature on ex post cost-effectiveness analysis, and applies those findings to an analysis of Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) cash and...
2015
Expect the Unexpected: A Case Study of Impacts of Urban Food Vouchers in Somalia
Case Study
Beginning in early 2013, CRS implemented a series of food voucher programs, designed to meet the urgent food needs of vulnerable IDP and host households in urban communities. The vouchers were unconditional, but restricted to food purchases. The programs began in Kismayu in January 2013 (to December 2013), Baidoa (February 2014 to August 2014) and Mogadishu (July 2014 to December 2014). While...
2015
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, lessons learned and recommendations for electronic cash distributions during an emergency...
2015
Cash-for-shelter pilot findings in CRS’s Typhoon Haiyan Response
Report
In order to explore possible strategies for shelter assistance that would also benefit local markets, a cash transfer pilot study was conducted in which beneficiaries received cash to purchase shelter materials and to hire labourers. CRS promoted disaster-resilient construction techniques and employed a phased approach in which beneficiaries were required to demonstrate completion of each...
2014
CRS’ Emergency Flooding Response in Benin
Report
In response to flash flooding in northern Benin and widespread flooding in the southern departments of the country, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) organised 4 “humanitarian fairs” to meet the immediate needs of households most seriously affected. These fairs were unique in that they incorporated three different forms of aid into one event: – Hygiene and sanitation demonstrations –...
2013
Impacts of Food Vouchers on Local Markets: Reflections from CRS’ experience in Niger
Report
In mid 2010, CRS-Niger designed and carried out a food voucher program to assist the most needy one-third of households in the departments of Ouallam and Tillabéri due to the poor harvest in 2009 (CRS, 2010). The ADVANCE project was implemented in collaboration with a local NGO partner Association pour le Bien-être Collective et l’Ecologie (ABC Ecologie) with support from USAID. CRS...
May 2012
Maximizing the Value of "Cash for Work": Lessons from a Niger land recuperation project
Report
The good practices in this publication were distilled from a Real Time Evaluation (RTE) of an emergency project in Niger, implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and financed by OFDA that is using cash for work and seed fairs to addres food insecurity in the departments of Ouallam and Tillabery. This is part of a larger effort to respond to the Sahel Crisis in which below-average...
2012
Helping Families, Closing Camps: Using rental support cash grants and other housing solutions to end displacement in camps
Guidelines and Tools
Rental Support Cash Grants have enabled over 14,000 families to move from Haiti’s displacement camps into safe housing. Since October 2010, ten months after the January 12th earthquake, these grants of $500 US Dollars covering one year of rent have proven to be a fast, effective and relatively inexpensive method of providing housing solutions. Questions have been raised about the...
2012
Results of the Market Information and Food Insecurity Response Analysis (MIFIRA) framework conducted in two locations in Kenya
Case Study
This research paper shows the results of the MIFIRA framework which was applied through a Catholic Relief Services programme in one urban and one rural location in Kenya. The difference between urban and rural food security is explained and then the findings of the two case studies are described in detail. Conclusions of and similarities between the findings are then drawn.
2011
Catholic Relief Services Indonesia West Sumatra Transitional Shelter Program
Report
This evaluation report looks at CRS’ shelter programme in West Sumatra following an earthquake, which used cash grants to assist households to build safe, adequate, comfortable and durable transitional shelters. The report gives an overview of the programme and presents the findings from a comprehensive programme evaluation process. The programme’s achievements are discussed in terms of...
31 May 2010
Inter-Agency Impact Assessment of the Cash Transfer Programs in West Sumatra
Case Study
Following the 2009 earthquake in West Sumatra, cash transfer programming (CTP) has proven successful in delivering a fast and effective recovery response—providing households the opportunity to recover shelter and basic needs for their livelihoods. Success of these CTPs has been supported well by the IASC Clusters Coordination system, which has enabled agencies to coordinate for greater...
May 2010
Real Time Evaluation: Project ADVANCE Niger, Final Report
Report
The 2009 agricultural season in Niger was marked by dramatic crop production deficits. The most recent drought in Niger has led to an escalation in the price of locally-produced staple grains in the region. While demand in local markets remains high, as is normal right before the lean season, many vulnerable households do not have access to foods available on local markets. The United Nations...
2010
Lessons Learned from the Post Election Violence Early Recovery Programme in Kenya 2008-2009
Case Study
The Kenya Post Election Violence (PEV) Early Recovery Programme was an ECHO-supported response by six international NGOs to the ethnic and political violence which severely affected livelihoods in the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Central Provinces after the disputed national elections in late December 2007. Over 1,200 people died and as many as 500,000 were displaced at the peak of the crisis....
August 2009
Cash-Based Solutions in Shelter and Settlements : Humanitarian Response Case Study, West Sumatra, Indonesia
Report
In many emergencies, shelter programs are implemented by the distribution of shelter or construction materials, so that CRS’ (Catholic Relief Service) program participants does not have to deal with procurement or the open market. Under certain circumstances (availability of local market, cultural acceptability, etc.), cash grants can be an innovative intervention that caters to program...
2009
Real-Time Evaluation Report for the CRS Pakistan Response in the Swat Valley
Report
CRS launched a response in September 2009 to support the return of at least 3,000 persons displaced from Swat Valley. CRS partnered with local organizations LASOONA and EPS to provide cash grants, vouchers for livelihood assets, and cash for work activities to restart livelihood activities for returnees and other vulnerable households. The response targeted 4 Union Councils (UCs) which were...
2009
Seed vouchers and fairs: A manual for seed-based agricultural recovery in Africa
Guidelines and Tools
This manual describes a new (2002) approach to post-emergency seed distribution in Africa, where farmers receive not free seed but vouchers that can be exchanged for seed at a specially organized seed fair. Seed fairs rely on commercial seed firms (where they are in operation), as well as local seed producers and traders. This approach allows farmers to choose what crops/ varieties and...
2002
