West and Central Africa
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Why you need a plan A, B and C: Using cash in hard-to-reach contexts
Blog Post
Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) can be a valuable response choice in hard-to-reach areas, but it must be properly adapted to context with sufficient investment given to preparedness. Mirko Tommasi explains how preparing multiple plans, being flexible and ready to change plans fast and frequently is crucial for success in challenging contexts.
CVA for people on the move: Time for a new vision?
Webinar recording
This event presented the main findings of our recently released study 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. Additionally, invited guests discussed key issues on facing the topic of human mobility and CVA and answered questions from the audience. The event included two videos’ interventions: one...
Changes to US and UN economic sanctions may simplify CVA implementation
Blog Post
Recent changes to the UN and US economic sanctions regimes promise to improve cash transfer process across international borders, but changes might not be as quick or comprehensive as we would hope. We put eight questions to Rory Crew, who has looked into the matter for you.
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Cash or Coupons? Testing the impacts of cash transfers versus vouchers in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Report
Despite the increased use of conditional and unconditional cash-transfer programs worldwide, a majority of social protection programs in both developed and developing countries use in-kind transfers and vouchers. This paper reports the results of a randomized evaluation of an unconditional cash transfer...
Enhancing WFP’s Capacity and Experience to Design, Implement, Monitor, and Evaluate Vouchers and Cash Transfer Programmes: Study summary
Report
With support from the Government of Spain, and in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) evaluated four pilot projects to assess the comparative performance of cash transfers, food payments, and vouchers on household food...
Evaluation of Concern Worldwide’s Emergency Response in Masisi, North Kivu, DRC (2012-2013)
Report
Populations in eastern DRC have faced serious humanitarian consequences resulting from years of conflict and instability. In Masisi territory in the province of North Kivu, Concern Worldwide has provided emergency assistance since 2008 in order to respond to humanitarian needs created by cycles of...
The Crisis in the Sahel – Special Feature
Report
The special feature of this issue of Humanitarian Exchange focuses on the humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region of Africa, where aid agencies estimate that more than 18 million people are affected by food insecurity. In response to this crisis, cash and vouchers programming has been largely used. In...
How Effective are Cash Transfer Programmes at Improving Nutritional Status?
Report
Cash transfer programmes are a widely applied social protection scheme that has achieved successes in fighting poverty worldwide. A large literature has sprung up around these programmes, yet the relationship between cash transfer programmes and the nutritional status of recipient children is unclear. Can...
Impacts of Food Vouchers on Local Markets: Reflections from CRS’ experience in Niger
Report
In mid 2010, CRS-Niger designed and carried out a food voucher program to assist the most needy one-third of households in the departments of Ouallam and Tillabéri due to the poor harvest in 2009 (CRS, 2010). The ADVANCE project was implemented in collaboration with a local NGO partner Association pour...
An Emergency Market Mapping and Analysis Study Liberia’s Slow Onset Crisis
Report
In 2010, contested elections in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, and the violence that ensued, forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. As of 7th of July 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had counted a total of 153,000 refugees crossing the border into Liberia....
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...
Child Protection Rapid Assessment Toolkit
Guidelines and Tools
The CPRA Toolkit provides all the information you need to conduct a CPRA over a five-week timeframe. The toolkit is divided into three parts: Part 1: a guide to CPRA provides an action plan with 6 key phases, giving guidance for tasks in each phase. Part 2: sample tools provides five key tools for...
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...
FAO Policy on Cash-Based Transfers
Report
This document articulates FAO’s roles with respect to supporting and implementing CTs linked to agriculture and food security in line with the Organization’s mandate and comparative advantages. It is based on FAO’s experience and expertise in supporting CT programming and details various CT...
Non Food Item (NFI) Voucher Fairs in Walikale Territory, North Kivu, DRC (the CALP Network Case Study)
Case Study
In response to a rapid-onset emergency, UNICEF and Solidarités International utilized a cash-based voucher approach in Nyasi and Bobolo villages, in Walikale Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As part of a larger multi-province, multi-partner response programme in DRC known as...
E-payments in Emergency Cash Transfer Programming
Guidelines and Tools
This 2-pager summarises some of the main features, benefits and challenges of 4 different electronic payment methods that can be used to deliver cash transfers in an emergency: pre-paid cards, smart cards, mobile money and mobile vouchers. It is drawn from the CALP Network research on New Technologies in...
Maximizing the Value of "Cash for Work": Lessons from a Niger land recuperation project
Report
The good practices in this publication were distilled from a Real Time Evaluation (RTE) of an emergency project in Niger, implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and financed by OFDA that is using cash for work and seed fairs to address food insecurity in the departments of Ouallam and...
The Use of Cash Transfers in Emergencies: A focus on the HoA response strategies
Presentation
A focus on the HOA drought response strategies
Sharing What Works – Working with payment service providers (PSPs)
Report
A handy tool on choosing payment service providers for delivering cash transfers developed by WFP Zambia. Mobile money and m-banking are now providing unprecedented opportunities to enhance programming within the WFP through cash and vouchers delivery mechanisms. Often in this context providers are...
Cash Transfer for Protection of Blanket Feeding: Maradi and Tahoua regions
Report
The Project ‘Cash Transfer to Protect Blanket Feeding’ in Niger was launched by UNICEF in June 2010. The Project was a direct response to the growing evidence that blanket supplementary feeding rations distributed to children of 6 to 23 months of age in food insecure communities were consumed by older...
Natural Disasters: What is the role for social safety nets?
Policy paper
This paper makes the case for why safety nets are an important tool for managing the risk of natural hazards. The use of safety nets is advocated both ex ante, to prevent and mitigate the impact of natural disaster and ex post, to cope with the impacts of natural shocks. Firstly, the paper explores the...
Niger: Unconditional cash transfers in Tanout
Case Study
This case study documents the one time unconditional cash transfer programme carried out by the British Red Cross, for households vulnerable to food insecurity, as part of its overall emergency and recovery project following the 2004/5 Food crisis in Niger. It details the context, situational analysis,...
Can you text me now? Mobile money transfer in Niger
Case Study
This case study looks at Concern Worldwide’s ground breaking project using a new mobile money transfer system in Niger, following the severe drought of 2009, to demonstrate the effectiveness of this technology in supporting vulnerable groups to access their basic needs. This very brief document looks at...