UNFPA Cash Assistance in Ukraine: Providing cash within GBV case management and to support pregnant and lactating women in times of conflict

Cash and voucher assistance (CVA) has proven to be feasible and effective in contributing to the humanitarian response in Ukraine since 2022. UNFPA Ukraine has focused its cash assistance on its two main mandate areas for women and girls in emergencies: gender-based violence (GBV) response, through survivor-centered GBV case management, and meeting sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs. UNFPA Ukraine’s cash assistance interventions that took place from May 2023 till July 2024 have had a dual aim:

1. Contributing to individual women and girls’ GBV case action plans, thereby improving individual protection outcomes and mitigating their risk of GBV
2. Providing support to pregnant and lactating women (PLW) to purchase items, pay for transport or other indirect costs, enabling them to access the SRH services that UNFPA supports or provides

UNFPA works to reach those left furthest behind, particularly in conflict-affected areas near the frontline. UNFPA worked together with its Ukrainian implementing partner, the NGO Initiative. Enhancing the capacity of UNFPA’s national partners to implement cash and voucher assistance (CVA) has advanced localization and resilience efforts on the ground, which in turn has increased the quality and effectiveness of UNFPA’s GBV and SRH humanitarian programming to empower and protect women affected by conflict.

In line with the UN “Delivering as One,” UNFPA partnered with other UN entities including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This case study evaluates the methodology, delivery mechanisms, transfer amounts, monitoring frameworks, and results of cash assistance within UNFPA Ukraine’s programmes, highlighting their significant impact on recipients’ well-being and recovery.