Review of the Grand Bargain Multipurpose Cash (MPC) Outcome Indicators

Multipurpose cash (MPC) is a type of assistance that enables people affected by crises to purchase the goods or services of their choice, on local markets. When used in humanitarian response, MPC can contribute to a wide range of different outcomes, depending on each household’s needs and priorities. While this flexibility has many advantages for recipients of assistance, the use of MPC brings with it certain challenges for humanitarian actors and donors in monitoring and reporting the effects of this type of assistance.
As part of the Grand Bargain commitments to “increase the use and coordination of cash-based programming”, to “harmonize and simplify reporting requirements” and to “include people receiving aid in the decisions which affect their lives”, the need for better and more consistent measurement of the outcomes to which MPC contributes was identified.
Starting in 2018, the MPC Outcome Indicators have been developed by a group of humanitarian stakeholders, including NGO and UN practitioners, cluster leads or cash/markets focal points, the CALP Network, and donors. This ‘MPC Indicator Reference Group’ has been co-led by representatives from Catholic Relief Services (CRS), USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and the CALP Network. Following a period of extensive consultation and discussion, in July 2019 the Multipurpose Cash Outcome Indicators – Final Draft for Testing was completed and published. Since 2019, these draft MPC indicators have been ‘field tested’ by various humanitarian stakeholders.
The aim of this review is to gather experience from the testing phase and analyze this feedback in order to revise the MPC Outcome Indicators and produce an updated version of the document.