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Cash 101: Cash and Voucher Assistance Explained

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Embracing new technology is critical to making humanitarian response – including cash and voucher assistance (CVA) – as effective as possible. But when we integrate new technologies and partnerships into humanitarian assistance, we must ensure that the safety, dignity and preferences of people in crisis always come first.

Digital technology is transforming the way we respond to emergencies. Innovations range from how we identifying people eligible for assistance, to data collection for assessments and monitoring, to communication with crisis-affected communities. Digital payment systems, including mobile devices, electronic vouchers, and cards – when used appropriately – can deliver timelier, more secure, more cost effective, and inclusive assistance. But as the volume of data we collect, store and share about people grows, we must ensure that our data protection systems keep pace and that we understand and mitigate for the risks inherent in new technologies.

Latest

Cash recipient from Merc Corps PRIME programme engaged in farming

Pathways from CVA to long term financial inclusion: A framework for success

Blog Post

CVA programs can provide a springboard to financial inclusion. But spotting the right opportunity, and good programme design, are key. GSMA and Mercy Corps share a simple tool to understand which contexts offer the best pathways from CVA to financial inclusion.

11 November 2021

Slides for the Global CWG meeting – Oct 2021

Presentation

The enclosed slides for the 28 October meeting feature presentations from WFP, the Uganda and CAR CWGs and GSMA , as well as key links to key resources discussed.

29 October 2021

Digital identity, biometrics and inclusion in humanitarian responses to refugee crises

Report

Digital identity and biometrics have long been divisive topics in the humanitarian sector. On the one hand, they have the potential to be more inclusive and reach people in need at scale due to perceived efficiency gains. A legal identity for everyone as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)...

6 October 2021

The Receipt

Report

Save the Children Australia: Pacific Cash Preparedness and Response Program

30 June 2021

Minding the (financial and digital) gap! – How informal social safety nets leverage digital & cash enablers in COVID-19 pandemic

Presentation

Minding the (financial and digital) gap! – How informal social safety nets leverage digital & cash enablers in COVID-19 pandemic: In every context, strengthening the links between cash transfers, savings groups and digitisation contributes to resilient recovery from COVID-19. Representatives of...

17 May 2021

“Doing no harm” in the digital age: What the digitalization of cash means for humanitarian action

Policy paper

Cash transfers have changed the way the humanitarian sector delivers assistance, and at the same time, digitalization is changing the way our world works in fundamental ways. The digitalization of cash means that the simple click of a button can put money in the hands of hundreds of thousands, if not...

18 March 2021

Towards shock-responsive social protection: lessons from the COVID-19 response in Pakistan

Report

The stringent lockdown measures and global economic slowdown, due to COVID-19, are likely to increase the poverty rate in Pakistan by 35 percentage points in urban areas and 32 percentage points in rural areas. The report documents the Government of Pakistan’s social protection response to mitigate the...

8 March 2021

2020 Cash and Voucher Programming (CVP): Roadmap and milestone achieved

Report

In 2020, World Vision has implemented cash and voucher programming like never before – not least due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related social protection transfer scale-ups. From 2019 to 2020, we have seen a 28 % increase of our cash, voucher based programming, moving towards enabling affected...

22 January 2021

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...

8 January 2021

Cash 101: Cash and Voucher Assistance Explained

Explore the Cash 101