Multipurpose Cash Assistance
Multipurpose Cash (MPC) are unrestricted cash transfers that people affected by crises can use to cover their basic needs. By its nature, MPC is the assistance modality which offers people a maximum degree of choice, flexibility and dignity. There is also growing evidence that it is more cost-efficient and cost-effective to meet multiple needs.
But this requires new ways of collaborating between humanitarian actors, at all stages of the program cycle, and across sectors. While solid tools exist to support collaboration, they have not been widely adopted and MPC is still used in an ad-hoc way. Challenges remain to be addressed if we are to successfully fit MPC into the humanitarian system.
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Multipurpose cash outcome indicators and guidance
Guidelines and Tools
The indicators in this document, developed by the Grand Bargain Cash Workstream, focus on the primary objectives of humanitarian Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPC), and the outcomes to which MPC can most strongly contribute in a given context.
Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) Decision Making Tools
Guidelines and Tools
Update: This publication was revised in 2022. Please read the revised publication here.
The purpose of this tipsheet is to accompany practitioners and decision makers through key stages in the process of calculating an MEB to: (a)
identify what is the most appropriate path to take in relation to their
particular context, identified objective, existing capacities and available
resources; and...
Operational Guidance and Toolkit for Multipurpose Cash Grants
Guidelines and Tools
This operational guidance and toolkit brings together worldwide expertise on cash-based interventions (CBIs). It provides comprehensive and practical guidance for humanitarian actors to assess the feasibility, conceptualise the design and structure the implementation of MPGs. The guidance focuses on MPGs whose primary objective is to meet basic needs as defined by affected people...
Definition of Minimum Expenditure Baskets (MEB) in West Africa
Report
Throughout 2017, five countries in West Africa have worked collectively to define minimum expenditure baskets, in order to better capture the contribution that humanitarian assistance is making to address the basic needs of affected populations, and improve the impact of assistance. This heavy process raises technical and coordination challenges. The CALP Network, with support from USAID /...
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MPESA Project Analysis: Exploring the use of cash transfers using cell phones in pastoral areas
Report
Safaricom Limited, a mobile network operator in Kenya, launched a mobile money transfer system called M-PESA in 2007. This system allows users to send or receive money on their Safaricom SIM card. Télécoms sans Frontières and Vétérinaires sans Frontières – Germany decided to work in partnership on...
Cash and Child Protection: How cash transfer programming can protect children from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence
Guidelines and Tools
This discussion paper examines the links between cash transfers and the positive and negative outcomes for children – in particular, the role cash transfers have played in protecting children from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. It aims to identify ways in which cash transfer activities could...
Examining Differences in the Effectiveness and Impacts of Vouchers and Unconditional Cash Transfers
Report
The objective of this study is to examine the differences in the effectiveness and impacts of vouchers versus unconditional cash transfers in the Bushani camp of the Masisi territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo. As part of this research, the study team collected household data from over...
A Practical Guide to Cash-Based Response
Guidelines and Tools
A Practical Guide to Cash-based Responses is a manual developed by Adeso to share the organisation’s experience in developing and implementing appropriate cash-based responses. The manual highlights some practical problems that are faced by implementation teams around the world and it is intended to...
Delivering Cash Through Cards – A Quick Delivery Guide (booklet)
Guidelines and Tools
A Quick Delivery Guide to delivering money through cards (magnetic stripe or smart cards). Prepared as a practical tool, this guide provides a brief synthesis of the necessary preconditions and advantages and disadvantages of using cheques. It also provides practical implementation tips. This version...
Richer but Resented: What do cash transfers do to social relations and does it matter?
Report
This paper looks at how social protection cash transfers are evaluated primarily in terms of poverty reduction or human capital, with their impact on social relations being under-examined. The authors examine case studies from Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and argue that the impact of cash transfers on...
CCT Programmes and Women’s Empowerment in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador
Report
Latin America’s efforts to alleviate poverty have resulted in reducing poverty in twelve countries, most strikingly in Mexico and Brazil. The adoption of Cash Transfer programmes in much of the region is credited with helping to bring this reduction about. These programmes are widely promoted as a cost...
Cash and voucher in relief and recovery: Red Cross Red Crescent good practices
Report
A two-page brief giving some examples of the Red Cross / Red Crescent movement’s experience using cash grants, vouchers, and cash-for-work in emergency response.
Delivering Cash Through Cards – A Quick Delivery Guide (screen version)
Guidelines and Tools
A Quick Delivery Guide to delivering money through cards (magnetic stripe or smart cards). Prepared as a practical tool, this guide provides a brief synthesis of the necessary preconditions and advantages and disadvantages of using cheques. It also provides practical implementation tips.
The Use of Cash Transfers in Livestock Emergencies and their Incorporation into Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS)
Guidelines and Tools
This paper reviews the use of cash transfers within the livestock sector and suggests how they can be incorporated into and support Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS). The paper’s structure reflects the stages of the LEGS Handbook as these in turn reflect good project cycle management....