Risk
The CALP Network’s State of the World’s Cash report found that the perception that CVA is riskier than other forms of aid was one of the main barriers to CVA being routinely used. This concern is linked to the growing emphasis from donors on anti-terrorism and money laundering, and shrinking budgets for humanitarian assistance. The CALP Network’s work under this theme aims to debunk myths, facilitate collaboration, and share learning to ensure that CVA is systematically and equally considered, based on evidence of actual risks across modalities.
Current priorities
A variety of organisations are currently working on CVA and risk. The CALP Network is working to identify synergies among actors, avoid duplication, and define joint priorities that can be better addressed collectively. Together with WFP, the CALP Network is co-leading the risk priority within the Grand Bargain workstream on cash.
Featured content
Podcast: Will risk aversion hold us back from realizing the potential of CVA?
Podcast
Episode 1 of the CashCast, exploring how attitudes to risk have impacted the use of CVA in the Middle East and North Africa region.
CVA and Risks: What happens in the field, stays in the field?
Blog Post
In October 2019 in Douala, Cameroon, the CALP Network facilitated a learning event exploring the risks to beneficiary protection in Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA). This closed-door workshop, held as part of series of meetings and webinars on theme of CVA and risk in different regions, convened 25 humanitarian workers from West and Central Africa representing local and international NGOs, UN...
Webinar: Data sharing in CVA: ethics, ownership and privacy
Event
Thematic lead
Latest
How We Built a Global Action Agenda to Enable Digital Payments in Humanitarian Response
Blog Post
In recent years, digital payments have emerged as an essential, high-impact tool for humanitarian response. They can enable humanitarian responders to quickly reach people with assistance, and in ways that provide both short- and long-term benefits to those in need, such as access to safe and portable...
Libya Cash and Markets Working Group (CMWG) Advocacy and Communications Plan
Report
The Libya Cash & Markets Working Group (CMWG) Strategic Framework & 2017 Workplan outlines ‘communication and advocacy’ as a ‘deliverable’ for supporting ‘HC/HCT decision making’.
Throughout March & April 2017, the CMWG Steering Committee used a series of tools as part of a seven-step process...
Conflict-sensitive Cash Transfers: Unintended negative consequences
Report
Risks associated with cash transfer programmes in fragile contexts include theft, diversion, corruption, security, targeting, misuse by beneficiaries and inflationary effects. However, the literature indicates that – while different – these risks are no greater than those associated with other forms...
Cash Transfers for Food Security in Epidemics
Report
The report is divided into five chapters. The introduction provides a brief overview of the study’s objectives, data collection methods and a snapshot of the context in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The second chapter describes USAID/FFP’s response to the Ebola crisis with a particular focus on CTP....
Shock-Responsive Social Protection Systems Research: Literature Review (2nd Edition)
Report
DFID has commissioned research into Shock-Responsive Social Protection systems, to further understand the nature of the interaction between social protection, humanitarian and disaster risk management systems and ways in which long-term social protection systems can be scaled up to provide support in...
The Role of Financial Services in Humanitarian Crises
Guidelines and Tools
More than 75 percent of adults who live in countries that are coping with humanitarian crises remain outside the formal financial system. Financial inclusion would provide both refugees and residents with a diversified set of financial products (including savings, remittances, credit, and insurance) that...
Is cash better than food vouchers for Syrian refugees?
Report
A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of unrestricted cash and food restricted voucher assistance modalities for Syrian refugee households’ food security in Jordan and Lebanon.
ELAN Humanitarian KYC Case Studies
Report
Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, also known as customer due diligence, are designed to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and other related threats to the financial system. They refer to the ID checks that financial institutions perform to comply with national financial regulations....
Looking Back to Move Forward: Building on Learning from 2011 to Strengthen the 2017 Drought Response in Somalia Learning Report
Report
This report provides a summary of the discussions that took place during a half-day reflection workshop in May 2017. More than 40 people from national and international NGOs, the UN, donors and research organisations came together to consider lessons from the 2011 drought response, reflect on the use of...
Rapid Assessment for market report : West Kenya and Informal settlements in Kenya.
Report
Two locations namely Mathare and Kibera slums in Nairobi as well as Kisumu, Migori and Homabay counties in West Kenya were affected by post election skirmishes after the Kenya General Elections of 8th August 2017. In September 2017 Kenya Red Cross conducted a post crisis market assessment to establish how...
Myth-busting? Confronting Six Common Perceptions about Unconditional Cash Transfers as a Poverty Reduction Strategy in Africa
Report
This paper summarizes evidence on six perceptions associated with cash transfer programming, using eight rigorous evaluations conducted on large-scale government unconditional cash transfers in sub-Saharan Africa, under the Transfer Project. Specifically, it investigates if transfers: 1)...
Scaling-up CTP in Somalia: Reflecting on the 2017 Drought Response
Report
This report summarises discussions that took place during a half-day workshop in September 2017. It built on issues identified as needing action in May, as outlined in the ‘Looking back to move forward: Building on learning from 2011 to strengthen the 2017 drought response in Somalia learning report’.
Multi-sector Market Assessment: Companion Guide and Toolkit
Guidelines and Tools
The Multi-sector Market Assessment: Companion Guide and Toolkit provides step-by-step guidance and ready-to-use tools to enable non-specialist staff to conduct market assessments and undertake market monitoring. The purpose of this Companion Guide and Toolkit is to enable Multi-Functional Teams to...
The Financial Journey of Refugees Full Report
Report
This document details how refugees and migrants from the Middle East, South and Central Asia and East, West and North Africa finance their journeys and manage money along the way.
Monitoring 4 CTP: Monitoring Guidance for CTP in Emergencies
Guidelines and Tools
This guidance provides a central resource to promote a common understanding of the most important monitoring considerations for humanitarian projects using cash transfer programming (CTP). The primary audience for this guidance is field-level practitioners, from organisations directly involved in the...
Cash-Based Response- OECD Commitments into Action Series
Report
The use of cash in humanitarian response is not new. What is new, notably after the World Humanitarian Summit and the Grand Bargain, is the policy momentum for using cash as a primary option in responding to humanitarian needs. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating its multiple benefits as...
Community Based Targeting Report
Report
The current study aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of SEV from the community’s perspective and to assess the targeting practices implemented by cash actors in Lebanon. It demonstrated that, according to the community, HH size had an impact on vulnerability, but that that depended on its...
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...
Partnering with Mobile Network Operators in Zimbabwe to Deliver Cash Transfers
Report
This case study seeks to investigate and document the following: The process of engagement between MNOs and CARE. Clarity of roles between CARE/WVI as implementing agencies and MNOs. Successes and challenges in the partnership between CARE/WVI and the MNOs Measures taken to manage the impact of the...
Zimbabwe ‘Cash First’ Humanitarian Response 2015–2017: Evaluation Report
Report
CARE International and World Vision International (WVI) in Zimbabwe implemented the UK Department for International Development (DFID)-funded project ‘Emergency Cash First Response to Drought-Affected Communities in the Southern Provinces of Zimbabwe’ from August 2015 to April 2017. The project...