Gender and Inclusion
There is an increasing demand from stakeholders that, as CVA continues its rapid growth, it should take greater account of gender and inclusion issues because, ‘Gender-responsive CVA which recognizes existing disparities and addresses the needs of all crisis-affected people equally, has the potential to positively impact women and girls by improving their protection and promoting their empowerment, while also strengthening sector-specific impacts which can lead to more resilient and empowered households and communities in recovery from crises.’ (Guidelines for Grand Bargain Cash and Gender Workstream). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency for action as it has affected women and excluded groups more severely through increasing care-giving, reducing employment opportunities disproportionately, exposing women to greater financial hardship and increased gender based violence.
The CALP Network continues to build on the 2018, our #GenderCash Symposium in Nairobi and the commitment enshrined in the Agenda for Collective Action that resulted. The SOWC 2020 report found notable progress in work on gender and CVA, identified as a critical evidence gap in the last report: new guidelines have been produced on gender and CVA and gender and GBV and efforts have focused attention on synthesising and identifying more robust evidence. The initial focus on GBV is now shifting towards gender equality and to better programming that can move beyond gender sensitivity towards becoming gender responsive – and even gender transformative. However, while we see progress globally at the technical level, this has not yet translated into consistent changes in planning, implementation and monitoring.
Current priorities
We will continue to work closely with the Grand Bargain Cash sub-workstream leads, CARE and UN Women, to help deliver the sub-workstream workplan. The CALP Network will continue to encourage cash actors to widen their focus to be more inclusive, and champion a fuller understanding of how CVA can go beyond the notion of ‘do no harm’ towards appropriately addressing these socio-economic inequalities through the provision of other services and support.
Featured content
Collected Papers on Gender and Cash Transfer Programmes in Humanitarian Contexts
Report
Existing gender inequalities mean that disasters and conflicts impact women, men, girls and boys differently. Cash based assistance is one of the most significant developments in humanitarian assistance in recent years. But the relationship between gender and cash based assistance in humanitarian contexts is poorly understood. All too often, interventions are designed based on assumptions...
Microlearning video: CVA and Gender
Blog Post
This video provides an overview of the relationship between gender and cash and voucher assistance (CVA) structured around the humanitarian project cycle, which include: Assessment and response analysis: How to adjust the assessment processes to achieve a more accurate reflection of gender and markets. Design and implementation: How to use methods and protocols to reduce the potential...
Better Gender Outcomes in Food Assistance through Complementary and Multi-Modal Programing: Promising Practices Tip Sheet
Guidelines and Tools
This Tip Sheet is excerpted from the research report, “Better Gender Outcomes in Food Assistance through Complementary and Multi-Modal programming,” and gives promising practices by the cycles of project cycle management, as well as at the response level. Additionally, there are expert tips and wisdom practices that support the use of a gendered approach in development or humanitarian...
Cash & Voucher Assistance and Gender-Based Violence Compendium
Guidelines and Tools
The Compendium is intended as a companion to the 2015 Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action and its companion resource, the GBV Pocket Guide. The guidance was developed through the efforts of 15 organizations who contributed expertise in the inception, design and review of the document. The process was led...
A Gendered Analysis on Cash for Work Programming in Lahj Governorate
Case Study
Cash for Work (CFW) programmes are designed to help the most vulnerable people meet their essential and basic needs. In Yemen, CFW interventions are responding to an ever-growing proportion of the Yemeni population that are in need of humanitarian assistance. Working with communities in the targeted areas of Hudayda and Lahj, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SIDA-funded...
How to Promote Gender Equality in Humanitarian Cash and Voucher Assistance
Guidelines and Tools
The use of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) in humanitarian action is increasing rapidly.
With this rise, there is also growing demand by stakeholders to ensure CVA is more gender-responsive, addressing gender gaps and moving towards greater gender equality.
Gender-responsive CVA, which recognizes existing disparities and addresses the needs of all crisis-affected people equally, has the...
Gender-Sensitive Cash and Voucher Assistance: Guidance to ensure the approach in the field
Guidelines and Tools
This guidance builds on CARE’s ambition-via practice, research, evidence on CVA–and aims to support the application of gender sensitive CVA throughout the project cycle and at the response level. It is divided into two sections: – Part A: ‘What has been learned about gender sensitive CVA?,’ briefly explains the recommendations that came from the research. – Part B: ‘How do we...
Enablers and Gaps: Gender Equality, Gender-Based Violence Response and Mitigation in Cash and Voucher Assistance at Response levels: analysis on three case studies
Report
The Gender and Cash Sub-Workstream identified three case studies that illustrate how Cash Working Groups, GBV Sub-Clusters, gender focal points (e.g. Gender in Humanitarian Action Working groups at country and regional level) and humanitarian partnerships can enable meaningful and wider engagement on gender equity and GBV response in CVA. The case studies all show different aspects of linking...
How to mitigate gender-based violence (GBV) risks in cash and voucher assistance (CVA)
Video
Cash and voucher assistance (CVA) is an important tool to help individuals affected by crises get back on their feet. But just like any other form of assistance, it is vital to ensure that it does not fuel tensions in the household or in the community and that it does not create new risks for women and girls. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways that cash actors can work to mitigate risks...
Inclusive Information Systems for Social Protection: Intentionally Integrating Gender and Disability
Policy paper
Digital information systems serving the social protection sector, and especially social assistance, are increasingly prominent and will continue to be, as is the case within all other sectors. “Why? Because the ability of a country to care for its people and respond to their lifecycle needs depends on its ability to identify those who are in need, enroll them, provide tailored benefits and...
Mainstreaming disability inclusion into humanitarian CVA
Presentation
What is a rights-based approach to disability? How can disability inclusion be mainstreamed to ensure more inclusive and effective CVA humanitarian responses? To answer these key questions, CALP, CBM Global, European Disability Forum and International Organization for Migration (IOM), came together to organize the webinar “Mainstreaming disability inclusion into humanitarian CVA”, with the...
Disability Inclusive Cash Assistance: Learnings from Practice in Humanitarian Response
Guidelines and Tools
This case study collection describes lessons learned from seven inclusive humanitarian cash transfer projects implemented from 2015 – 2020 in Niger, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Indonesia, and five ongoing projects from the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic responses. This good practice collection aims to benefit both humanitarian practitioners engaged in Cash Based Interventions...
Cash and beyond – Analysis of extra costs associated with disabilities and disability-specific social protection in Ukraine, in the aftermath of the Russian invasion
Report
Following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022 and the consequent humanitarian crisis, the country has experienced active fighting and massive displacement, both within and outside its borders. Persons with disabilities and older persons have been facing particularly harsh effects, especially for those with more severe forms of disabilities, who encountered challenges in...
Thematic lead
Latest
We Don’t Do a Lot for Them Specifically – Quick Guide
Report
Transfers with Impact – Pathway to Link Humanitarian Cash to Social Protection through Social Accountability
Policy paper
In response to the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, governments have introduced over 1,600 social protection measures in almost all the world’s countries and territories. Cash assistance – a critical intervention in supporting the world’s most vulnerable people – also grew by 240% during...
Cash and Voucher Assistance in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic Lessons Learned from a CARE Multi-Country Program
Report
CARE implemented a multi-country program with the aim of reducing the negative impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations, especially women and girls, using complementary and multimodal approaches, including the provision of cash and voucher assistance (CVA). Given the nature and scale of this program...
Somalia CVA Case Study: Cash and Voucher Assistance and Gender-Based Violence Risk Mitigation
Report
In order to better understand the potential risks for women and girls that may be created by the provision of humanitarian cash assistance, Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) experts from Somalia worked closely together to evaluate existing CVA interventions in Somalia and...
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...
Enablers and Gaps: Gender Equality, Gender-Based Violence Response and Mitigation in Cash and Voucher Assistance at Response levels: analysis on three case studies
Report
The Gender and Cash Sub-Workstream identified three case studies that illustrate how Cash Working Groups, GBV Sub-Clusters, gender focal points (e.g. Gender in Humanitarian Action Working groups at country and regional level) and humanitarian partnerships can enable meaningful and wider engagement on...
Rapid Market Assessment and Price Monitoring Report – Huehuetenango Department Guatemala
Report
Methodology: This rapid assessment of markets and prices was based on an adapted version of the IFRC’s Rapid Assessment for Markets, elements of the EMMA toolkit’s market system approach and the consortium of NGO’s price monitoring format. The methodology was chosen to give a basic and rapid...
Comparative study of the effects of different cash modalities on gender dynamics and people with disabilities in Aleppo, Syria
Report
In 2020/2021, the Syria Joint Response partners (ZOA, Oxfam, Cordaid, Dorcas and Terre des Hommes) completed a comparative research to showcase the different effects of different modalities on the most deprived and marginalised groups, in particular women and People With Disabilities (PWD) in order to...
Comparative study of the effects of different cash modalities on gender dynamics and people with disabilities in Aleppo, Syria – Executive summary
Report
In 2020/2021, the Syria Joint Response partners (ZOA, Oxfam, Cordaid, Dorcas and Terre des Hommes) completed a comparative research to showcase the different effects of different modalities on the most deprived and marginalised groups, in particular women and People With Disabilities (PWD) in order to...
User journeys of Syrian refugees receiving multi-purpose cash from WFP in Lebanon
Report
Ground Truth Solutions, in collaboration with the Cash Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Organizational Network (CAMEALEON) have produced a report detailing the lived experiences or “user journeys” of Syrian refugees in Lebanon receiving multipurpose cash assistance from the World...
Inclusive Information Systems for Social Protection: Intentionally Integrating Gender and Disability
Policy paper
Digital information systems serving the social protection sector, and especially social assistance, are increasingly prominent and will continue to be, as is the case within all other sectors. “Why? Because the ability of a country to care for its people and respond to their lifecycle needs depends on...
UNFPA Cash Assistance to Support Individual Protection Needs in Northwest Syria
Report
As part of humanitarian programming in northwest Syria, through cross-border operations managed from Turkey, UNFPA provided one-off, unconditional, Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) in the form of cash disbursements to 10,074 vulnerable Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to cover the costs of their...
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...
Better Gender Outcomes in Food Assistance through Complementary and Multi-Modal Programing
Report
There is now widespread recognition and evidence that CVA can have highly positive socio-economic impacts, ranging from poverty reduction and improved living conditions to enhanced psychosocial well-being. Despite such steps toward food assistance programming that fosters dignity and choice and stimulates...
Better Gender Outcomes in Food Assistance through Complementary and Multi-Modal Programing: Promising Practices Tip Sheet
Guidelines and Tools
This Tip Sheet is excerpted from the research report, “Better Gender Outcomes in Food Assistance through Complementary and Multi-Modal programming,” and gives promising practices by the cycles of project cycle management, as well as at the response level. Additionally, there are expert tips and wisdom...
Cash and Voucher Assistance Guidelines for Lao PDR
Guidelines and Tools
Cash and voucher assistance is becoming increasingly popular in Lao PDR in delivering humanitarian assistance, rehabilitation and development focused projects. In supporting the cash and voucher assistance agenda in Lao PDR, the Cash Working Group was established as a working group for local and regional...
Cash Transfers and Women’s Economic Inclusion: Experimental evidence from Zambia
Case Study
This paper investigates whether an increase in exogenous income through the Child Grants model of the Social Cash Transfer programme in Zambia fosters economic inclusion among rural women. We conceptualize economic inclusion as a transformative process comprised of four pillars: productive capacity,...
Cash. Dignity. Agency.
Video
Watch the videos here Displaced people face higher rates of gender-based violence before, during, and after they are forced to move. The Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) explores how cash transfers can be used in response to gender-based violence and its potential to help displaced persons, including...
Cash and Voucher Assistance for Adolescents: An evidence review of how cash and voucher assistance can achieve outcomes for adolescents in humanitarian settings
Report
During crises, the institutions, systems and community cohesion that normally support adolescent development break down. Humanitarian response often fails to take the necessary steps to mitigate and counteract the disadvantages that adolescent girls and boys in crisis face – including access to...
Cash transfer and child protection: An integrated approach to address the needs of unaccompanied and separated adolescents in the Central African Republic
Report
This report assesses Plan International’s Monetary Transfer and Child Protection Project in Central African Republic. It aims to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the programme, including implementation challenges and successes, benefits and associated risks for beneficiaries,and to identify...
