CVA and Human Mobility
Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) is frequently used to meet the needs of migrants in crisis. This page serves as a space to house materials connected to CVA and migration.
The Red Cross is preparing to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants ready to depart Honduras for Guatemala as part of a migrant caravan.
©Johannes Chinchilla / IFRC.
Conflict, economic crisis and natural disasters have forced people on arduous and risky journeys across multiple borders in search of safety, security and livelihoods. In 2020, the number of people forcibly displaced soured to a record high of over 80 million – nearly double the number a decade earlier. This trend is worsening and the effects of climate change threaten to displace up to 200 million people by 2050.
Increasingly, cash and voucher assistance (CVA) is being used to meet the needs of people on the move. It has been used at scale in various contexts from the 2015 European migration crises to ‘los caminantes’ from Venezuela. Equally, it has been used in other mixed migration crises, such as Central America, the Sahel, the Mediterranean, and the Horn of Africa. Currently, CVA is one of the main forms of assistance to the displaced populations in Ukraine and the surroundings countries.
There are many perspectives and definitions about what it means to be a migrant and how humanitarians should respond. Intentionally, we are not using a single definition for now as the discussion on CVA and migration is in its early stages a language is evolving.
Documenting and sharing evidence will help improve response effectiveness. This page houses a useful selection of resources related to migrants and the use of CVA. It will be updated as conversations evolve within humanitarian CVA spaces.
Current priorities
We aim to contribute to progress on this issue by:
- Supporting evidence generation at regional and global levels;
- contributing to practical solutions to delivering CVA to migrant populations; and
- convening evidence-based discussion on the key issues.
Featured content
People are on the move: Can the world of CVA keep up? Analysis of the use of CVA in the context of human mobility in the Americas
Report
This study proposes a new vision for the implementation of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) in contexts of human mobility in the Americas region.
This is not a drill: Cash and human mobility
Blog Post
In this blog Paula Gil Baizan presents three new lenses through which we can view human mobility. She outlines how these lenses intersect with Cash and Voucher Assistance with a particular focus...
DIGNIFYING, DIVERSE AND DESIRED: CASH AND VOUCHERS AS HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR MIGRANTS
Report
This report looks at the use of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) in supporting migrants. This report includes a baseline review of the use of CVA in the IFRC’s past and current operations...
CVA in Migration Context – Voices of Migrants in Niger
Report
On 24–31 August 2021, the Niger Red Cross, supported by the IFRC, conducted a survey with 35 migrants in neighbourhoods around the capital city of Niamey to ask about their views on CVA, their...
CASH ON THE MOVE – Adapting Multi-Purpose Cash ‘Plus’ Assistance to support people on the move in Peru
Report
In 2019 and 2020, with the support of USAID´s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (formerly FFP and OFDA), Save the Children implemented
a multi-purpose cash ‘Plus’ program in response to the...
IOM Cash-Based Interventions Annual Report and Case Studies 2020
Case Study
The IOM Cash-Based Interventions (CBI) Annual Report and Case Studies 2020 features case studies from a large number of missions that implemented CBI in 2020 and highlights the increasing use of...
CVA in Migration Context – Voices of Migrants in Kenya
Report
This report summarizes community consultations that were conducted in Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei integrated settlement. It introduces the local context and the current user journey,...
Thematic Leads
Latest
CVA in Migration Context – Voices of Migrants in Colombia
Report
This report looks at the use of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) in supporting migrants. This report includes a baseline review of the use of CVA in the IFRC’s past and current operations assisting migrants, finding that in a 42-month period between 2018 and 2021, CVA was used in 25 per cent of the...
CVA in Migration Context – Voices of Migrants in Niger
Report
On 24–31 August 2021, the Niger Red Cross, supported by the IFRC, conducted a survey with 35 migrants in neighbourhoods around the capital city of Niamey to ask about their views on CVA, their preferences, and their views on digital identities. This report provides a summary of the responses from the...
Field Handbook for Rental Housing Market Assessment – Latin America and the Caribbean
Guidelines and Tools
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and REACH with the support of CashCap/NORCAP and the collaboration of the R4V Shelter Sector, established...
CASH ON THE MOVE – Adapting Multi-Purpose Cash ‘Plus’ Assistance to support people on the move in Peru
Report
In 2019 and 2020, with the support of USAID´s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (formerly FFP and OFDA), Save the Children implemented
a multi-purpose cash ‘Plus’ program in response to the influx of Venezuelan migrants into Peru.
Households that were only transiting through the cities where they...
Cash and Voucher Assistance – Refugee and Migrant Response for Venezuelans Open Survey
Report
The objective is to promote reflection on the role of CVA in the 2021 Strategic Response Planning process for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela. The RCWG made available an open survey to capture the opinion of the partners on to what extent systematic integration of CVA as a modality, in the...
The Provision of Cash and Voucher Assistance in the Response to the Venezuela Refugee and Migrant Crisis: Findings and lessons learned – Main report
Report
This study, for which data was compiled between March and April 2020, seeks to document lessons and good practices in the delivery of CVA in Ecuador and Colombia by humanitarian organisations and governments, in response to migrants and refugees from Venezuela. The purpose of this analysis is...
Looking Back and Looking Forward: Somalia Drought Response: Cash and Voucher Assistance
Case Study
This report summarizes the discussions that took place during a one-day learning event on 11th June 2019. The event brought together 27 people from national and international NGOs, the UN, and donors to discuss progress, reflect on cash and voucher (CVA) assistance in Somalia and identify priorities for...
Displaced & Disconnected – Connectivity for Refugees
Report
UNHCR recognizes that one of the ‘hard stops’ in facilitating mobile connectivity and access to finance for displaced populations is non-conducive regulatory environments. In particular, ID-related legal requirements have proven a significant barrier to access. For example, a refugee who cannot...
Greece Cash Alliance: Building an Evidence Base on Operational Models for the Delivery Of CTP
Report
The primary aim of this case study is to map out aspects of the Greece Cash Alliance (GCA) operational model influencing key drivers of quality (effectiveness, efficiency and accountability) in the delivery of multipurpose cash grants (MPGs). The GCA was launched in April 2017 with funding from ECHO, in...
Cost-Effectiveness in Humanitarian Work: Cash-Based Programming
Report
There is consensus in the literature that giving people cash in humanitarian contexts provides greater choice and dignity while at the same time stimulating local markets. In comparison to in-kind approaches, cash emerges as more efficient to deliver and – depending on the particularities of a given...