CashCap /NORCAP Support to Red Cross/Red Crescent National Societies Pilot Review. Ukraine and Syria. Final report.

Over the past two years NORCAP’s CashCap programme in collaboration with British Red Cross, invested efforts in an initiative to test whether NORCAP/CashCap’s expertise in coordination, facilitating multistakeholder collaboration processes, capacity-strengthening, policy influence and advocacy for quality Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) adds value to ongoing system-wide localisation efforts, when placed strategically in a mentoring role and embedded within a local organisation over a long period of time. Pilots, both over a year long, took place in Ukraine and in Syria – with CashCap expertise embedded within Red Cross/Red Crescent National Societies in Ukraine and in Syria. Both NORCAP and BRC made a commitment to documenting and sharing learning from this initiative – to inform ongoing system-wide push towards locally-led response. An external review of both pilots was commissioned in late 2023. This publication presents summary of the findings and recommendations from this initiative.

Importantly, the review demonstrates relevance and effectiveness of this pilot and calls for its replication in other contexts. Embedding a CashCap expert, presents a unique value proposition for national societies and (to a lesser extent) for other local actors, showcasing technical expertise, soft skills, neutrality and adaptability.

The review also highlights a number of considerations for changes to how future iterations of this support model are designed and operationalised – especially as concerns the active role that National Societies themselves could play in determining scope, duration and exit from support. If you’re interested to understand more about this initiative or are considering replicating it in your contexts – please reach out to NORCAP/CashCap- Anna Kondakhchyan, Head of Cash and Markets CashCap/NORCAP: anna.kondakhchyan@nrc.no