Coordination
Background
Effective coordination can prevent gaps and overlaps in humanitarian responses, ensure the impact of CVA is optimised for the benefit of crisis affected populations, whilst also making the most of limited humanitarian funding. But the CALP Network’s State of the World’s Cash report found that cash coordination is seen as weak and ad hoc, and that this is having serious operational impact.
Ninety-five donors, international and national NGOs, private sector actors and one UN agency have called for clarity on two key issues surrounding cash coordination:
- Who should be accountable for ensuring effective cash coordination, and
- What the scope of Cash Working Groups should be, including in relation to multipurpose cash.
We urgently need to build on what works and provide clarity at the global level on the questions above, whilst adapting to different contexts. Clear decisions based on the impact on affected populations rather than agency politics are long overdue.
Current priorities
We aim to contribute to progress on this issue on three levels: supporting Cash Working Groups at the regional level; contributing to practical solutions for cash coordination at the global level; and convening evidence-based discussion on the key issues, highlighting critical decision points and opportunities for progress.
Featured content
Cash Coordination – LIVE timeline
Page
The latest updates on cash coordination as they unfold.
95 Organisations Sign Letter Calling for Strengthened Cash Coordination
News
Today a letter signed by 95 organisations was handed into the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) urging the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) to take a decision on the leadership and scope of cash coordination in the coming year.
Is cash transforming the humanitarian system or is the system limiting how cash is used?
Blog Post
At the State of World’s Cash 2020 launch event, Sorcha O’Callaghan, Director of Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI warned that, “Cash offers a huge transformative potential, but as far as the system is privileging the interest of the agencies over people in crisis, we won’t be able to see it”. If you missed the State of the World's Cash 2020 launch we're sharing highlights. Quote 4...
State of the World’s Cash 2020 Chapter 5 summary: Coordination
Report
There has been very limited progress on cash coordination since 2017. Cash continues to challenge the established coordination and funding architecture, and efforts to resolve outstanding questions around cash coordination have failed. Despite the lack of global agreement, Cash Working Groups are pushing forward and contributing to improved programming, and generating new approaches. This...
Cash Coordination Tip Sheet
Guidelines and Tools
This tip sheet sets out established best practice, key guidance and resources for all aspects of cash coordination, intended as a clear, accessible and action-oriented guide for those engaged in coordination of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) at the field level.
Introducing the Cash Coordination Tip Sheet
Webinar
The CALP Network has developed a tipsheet setting out established best practice and key guidance and resources for all aspects of cash coordination, intended as a clear, accessible and action-oriented guide for those engaged in coordination of cash and voucher assistance at the field level.
Cash Coordination: A proposal from members in MENA
Blog Post
Earlier this year the CALP Network undertook regional consultations to explore options for cash coordination. This blog lays out recommendations from participants from the Middle East and North Africa who sketched out what cash coordination, and coordination more broadly, could look like in future to support a more effective, efficient and accountable response.
Thematic lead
Latest
Joint Market Assessment Report
Report
This report assesses the feasibility of implementing Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA), specifically Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), to support individuals impacted by the recent earthquake. The evaluation focuses on the availability of items, price increases, access to shops, and acceptance of cash...
Adapting Cash Programming to Inflation, Depreciation and Economic Volatility
Case Study
The CALP Network supported country cash working groups (CWGs) in five African countries – Burkina Faso, Malawi, Nigeria, South Sudan and Zimbabwe – to agree on clear and predictable processes for adapting CVA programmes to economic volatility. These reports capture the resulting recommendations,...
Cash is King – if you can get it: Mapping the user journeys of cash recipients in Ukraine
Case Study
Cash as a way of providing assistance plays a crucial role in the Ukraine humanitarian response. As part of a project with the Collaborative Cash Delivery Network (CCD), Ground Truth Solutions is conducting a qualitative study with people who applied for or received cash assistance in Ukraine. The...
Multi-purpose cash assistance for Lebanese – Inter-agency Joint Learning Event Learning Brief
Case Study
On June 27th 2023, Mercy Corps co-organized with Acted, Concern and Oxfam a learning event on the implementation of Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) interventions for Lebanese. While the MPCA modality has been initiated and designed around the assistance to refugees, the provision of unconditional cash...
Cash or Vouchers? Or just good implementation? What aid recipients in Kaga-Bandoro want
Report
In April 2023, GTS met with people who had received cash and voucher assistance (CVA) in Kaga-Bandoro. Through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions at the Lazare camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and in the Abdallah neighbourhood, GTS sought to uncover the preferred...
Summary Analysis of Focus Group Discussions with Refugees on Social Protection & Cash Assistance
Case Study
Focus group discussions (FGDs) with refugees constitute an essential tool for shaping UNHCR and partners’ protection and inclusion programmes, including cash assistance. FGDs allow for a direct dialogue between protection actors, such as UNHCR, and refugees. By shedding light on the refugees’...
Alternative Approaches to Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance Delivery in Active Conflict Contexts
Case Study
On April 15, 2023, violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This conflict has had dire consequences, forcing people to flee. Both displaced and host communities, as well as those who have chosen to remain in sheltered locations, are grappling with...
WFP Cash Policy: Harnessing the power of money to help people survive and thrive
Policy paper
WFP’s new cash policy centres on people’s experiences, their stories and hopes for the future. By sending people cash, we can effectively and efficiently support them to meet their food, nutrition, and other essential needs, while at the same time bringing unique benefits that can help people break...
Local Actors’ Capacity Building Needs Beyond CVA (MENA)
Report
In light of the findings produced by the previous year’s research cycle on LLR in MENA, the CoP made “identifying and addressing capacity building needs” a core priority for the group moving forward. The aim is to ensure that local actors are set for success, and fair competitors for grants...
Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) in the DRC: Midline results of a pilot study in an artisanal mining zone in Maniema province
Case Study
In October 2021, the Belgian non-profit organization Eight World, started a pilot project of Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) in a village in an artisanal mining zone in the territory of Pangi, in Maniema Province, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Eight World transfers cash directly to...
Using Cash and Voucher Assistance to improve Menstrual Health and Hygiene in Bangladesh
Case Study
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners are implementing a Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) project for women and girls in two urban slums of Dhaka using Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA). The project has a dual objective of responding to period poverty in Bangladesh – the struggle...
CWG Learning Workshop: Report – Consolidate Knowledge
Report
On June 8th, the United Nations hosted a Learning Workshop on cash-based programmes in Sri Lanka. Led by the Cash Working Group (CWG) and supported by the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator (RCO), the workshop served as a platform for consolidating knowledge for cash-based interventions amid the...
Cash Working Group Co-Chair Terms of Reference Draft
Guidelines and Tools
This ToR outlines the responsibilities of programmatic and non-programmatic (applicable in IASC and mixed settings) co-chairs within a response-level Cash Working Group. The ToR should be contextualized and adapted to the specific response and host organisation to be used as a job description (JD) to...
Economic Drivers of Displacement in Yemen
Case Study
As Yemen enters its eighth year of conflict, the country faces interconnected social and economic crises, severely limiting the government’s ability to sustain vital public services and a stable employment market. Additionally, Yemenis’ purchasing power has dramatically reduced due to exchange rate...
Cash Advisory Group External Briefing – May 2023
Presentation
This slide deck was presented by the Cash Advisory Group in May 2023.
Mapping of Sectoral CVA Interventions – Iraq
Guidelines and Tools
After the de-activation of the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) led by UN OCHA in 2022, in January 2023 the Cash Working Group (CWG) transitioned into the Iraq Cash Forum (ICF), a technical advisory and coordination platform for cash partners in Iraq. The ICF sits under the Humanitarian Country...
Direct and Indirect Benefits of Food and Cash Assistance in Uganda
Case Study
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has the vision to escalate Cash Based Transfers (CBT) initiatives in coordination with the Government of Uganda. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the direct and indirect benefits of food and cash transfers to refugees and asylum seekers within...
Cash Working Group De-activation in Iraq
Case Study
The humanitarian context in Iraq has evolved significantly in the past years, advancing towards recovery and sustainability for the conflict-affected population. During 2022, the humanitarian coordination structure worked on a process to phase out, in line with the transitional context. Clusters and the...
In Progress: A Review of Forms of Coordination Between Cash Working Groups and Social Protection Systems in the Americas
Report
This report provides a mapping of the initiatives and scope of coordination efforts aimed at linking humanitarian CVA with social protection in each country in the Americas that has a CWG or maintains similar coordination spaces.
Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance 2023: Considerations and recommendations
Case Study
MPCA has been a major component during the humanitarian response in Iraq and it has been proven to be a successful assistance to support vulnerable populations to meet their immediate needs. During the past years, members of the Cash Working Group (CWG) agreed to harmonise the MPCA approach and its...