Episode 6: Are we ready to use cash and voucher assistance to prepare for crises in Latin America and the Caribbean?

According to UNOCHA, between 2000 and 2019,  152 million people in Latin America and Caribbean were affected by 1,200 disasters that impacted the region. Furthermore, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) recently cited that extreme poverty in the region grew by 86 million people in 2021 because of the deepening social and health crises.

Given this context, in this episode of the CashCast our panel of experts explores the following questions:

• How can CVA effectively contribute to social assistance systems in order to improve the lives of millions of crises affected people?
• What can we learn from programmes in Latin America and Caribbean where there have been strong linkages between social protection and humanitarian CVA for preparedness?
• What are the challenges, enablers, barriers, and opportunities to using these modalities in this new way?

The host and guests are:

• Holly Welcome Radice (host) – Regional Representative – Americas, the CALP Network.
• Isidro Navarro Payá – Senior Regional Technical Advisor for CVA in Latin America and Middle East regions, World Vision. He is a humanitarian professional with over two decades of professional experience, most of it in programme management and as technical advisor from emergency relief to long term development programmes. Isidro has worked in all continents focusing on n the food security and livelihoods sector, recently specialising on cash and voucher assistance.
• Juan Gonzalo Jaramillo Mejia – Social Protection Programme Policy Officer at the United Nations’ World Food Programme. He is a global social protection specialist focused on researching and advising on the socio-economic impacts and enabling policy and programmatic features enhancing the food security, nutritional and socially inclusive outcomes of social assistance interventions.
• Rodolfo Beazley – An independent consultant with more than 15 years of experience in the field of social protection. He conducts research and supports governments and partners in designing and implementing policies and programs, with a focus on service delivery, including information systems, targeting approaches, and payment mechanisms, among others. In recent years he has focused on studying how social

We invite you to listen in on this fascinating and in-depth conversation!

The idea for this episode of the CashCast emerged from this recent study “Cash & Voucher Assistance Within Social Protection Preparedness in Central America, Mexico, and The Dominican Republic”, commissioned by the CALP Network. To learn even more take a look at the study and associated resources which include two case studies, a blog, explainer video, infographics and the recording from the launch webinar.

The CashCast is an occasional podcast from the CALP Network that looks in depth at the critical debates in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance (CVA).

This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the Women’s Refugee Commission and CARE and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.