Coordination
Background
Effective coordination can prevent gaps and overlaps in humanitarian responses, ensure the impact of CVA is optimised for the benefit of crisis affected populations, whilst also making the most of limited humanitarian funding. But the CALP Network’s State of the World’s Cash report found that cash coordination is seen as weak and ad hoc, and that this is having serious operational impact.
Ninety-five donors, international and national NGOs, private sector actors and one UN agency have called for clarity on two key issues surrounding cash coordination:
- Who should be accountable for ensuring effective cash coordination, and
- What the scope of Cash Working Groups should be, including in relation to multipurpose cash.
We urgently need to build on what works and provide clarity at the global level on the questions above, whilst adapting to different contexts. Clear decisions based on the impact on affected populations rather than agency politics are long overdue.
Current priorities
We aim to contribute to progress on this issue on three levels: supporting Cash Working Groups at the regional level; contributing to practical solutions for cash coordination at the global level; and convening evidence-based discussion on the key issues, highlighting critical decision points and opportunities for progress.
Featured content
Cash Coordination – LIVE timeline
Page
The latest updates on cash coordination as they unfold.
95 Organisations Sign Letter Calling for Strengthened Cash Coordination
News
Today a letter signed by 95 organisations was handed into the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) urging the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) to take a decision on the leadership and scope of cash coordination in the coming year.
Is cash transforming the humanitarian system or is the system limiting how cash is used?
Blog Post
At the State of World’s Cash 2020 launch event, Sorcha O’Callaghan, Director of Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI warned that, “Cash offers a huge transformative potential, but as far as the system is privileging the interest of the agencies over people in crisis, we won’t be able to see it”. If you missed the State of the World's Cash 2020 launch we're sharing highlights. Quote 4...
State of the World’s Cash 2020 Chapter 5 summary: Coordination
Report
There has been very limited progress on cash coordination since 2017. Cash continues to challenge the established coordination and funding architecture, and efforts to resolve outstanding questions around cash coordination have failed. Despite the lack of global agreement, Cash Working Groups are pushing forward and contributing to improved programming, and generating new approaches. This...
Cash Coordination Tip Sheet
Guidelines and Tools
This tip sheet sets out established best practice, key guidance and resources for all aspects of cash coordination, intended as a clear, accessible and action-oriented guide for those engaged in coordination of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) at the field level.
Introducing the Cash Coordination Tip Sheet
Webinar
The CALP Network has developed a tipsheet setting out established best practice and key guidance and resources for all aspects of cash coordination, intended as a clear, accessible and action-oriented guide for those engaged in coordination of cash and voucher assistance at the field level.
Cash Coordination: A proposal from members in MENA
Blog Post
Earlier this year the CALP Network undertook regional consultations to explore options for cash coordination. This blog lays out recommendations from participants from the Middle East and North Africa who sketched out what cash coordination, and coordination more broadly, could look like in future to support a more effective, efficient and accountable response.
Thematic lead
Latest
Lost in translation: Unlocking the potential of private sector partnerships in cash assistance
Blog Post
Humanitarians and payment companies working together can design products and services that meet the needs of crisis-affected people. However, could a lack of understanding between humanitarian organisations and payment companies be hindering innovation?
CashCap /NORCAP Support to Red Cross/Red Crescent National Societies Pilot Review. Ukraine and Syria. Final report.
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...
Community Participation in the Design of Multi-purpose Cash Programs – Perspectives from the field
Report
The design of cash and voucher assistance (CVA) programs, especially when implemented at scale, is often driven by technical considerations. The conversations often focus on the survival minimum expenditure basket, financial service provider’s fees and targeting algorithm. Important decisions regarding...
Advocating for Cash and Voucher Assistance with Governments
Webinar recording
‘Advocating for Cash and Voucher Assistance with Governments’.
We were delighted to be joined by a distinguished expert panel of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement senior leaders:
- Alper Kucuk, Director General for International Affairs and Migration Services, Türk Kızılay;
- Caroline...
Cash Based Interventions – Unconditional cash transfer
Guidelines and Tools
This is a database template to explore how ActivityInfo can be used for information management for a Cash Based Intervention (CBI).
The template includes forms to register beneficiaries, conduct vulnerability assessments and monthly verifications, capture indicators related to post distribution status...
From Feasible to Life-Saving: The urgent case for cash at scale in Sudan
Case Study
About 18 million people are currently facing crisis (IPC 3) or emergency (IPC 4) levels of food insecurity across Sudan. This means more than one in three people are suffering from acute hunger in the country. As the conflict rages on, food insecurity is rapidly deteriorating, and communities in many...
Integrating Livelihoods Support into Emergency Assistance Programming
Guidelines and Tools
This report draws on research and learning to advocate for broader consideration of expanded humanitarian response programming, especially in situations of prolonged crises. Livelihoods programs have a crucial role to play in emergency settings, especially when combined with and aligned with cash...
Rampant inflation and climate crisis: can cash cope? – Community perceptions of cash assistance and resilience in northeast Nigeria
Report
Nigeria is currently experiencing its worst financial crisis in almost 30 years. Economic reforms such as the floating of the naira and the fuel subsidy’s removal have contributed to rising inflation, which reached almost 30% in February 2024. The volatile financial climate is having a real and...
Aligning Aid: Recipient perspectives on humanitarian cash and social protection in Ukraine
Report
In January 2023, Ground Truth Solutions and the CCD set out to understand the
experiences and perceptions of people who had applied for or received cash
assistance in Ukraine, both from humanitarian organisations and through government
social protection schemes. The Ukrainian cash response is the...
2024 ICVA Annual Conference Session 1 – Summary report
Report
Session One explored the importance of trust between NGOs to develop and agree approaches to humanitarian dilemmas and upholding the humanitarian principles, and how these very approaches can build or erode trust. The session used survey software to engage the audience on a variety of questions with 157...
MENA Membership Engagement Event
Event
Online- March 6th, 2024, 11:00-13:30 Amman time
Does Cash-Plus Programming Work in Contexts of Protracted Crises?
Policy paper
Cash-plus programmes aim to strengthen food security and livelihoods by providing cash transfers alongside complementary support and services. In stable settings, these programmes can, to some extent, draw on established public services and administrative capacities. Yet, increasingly they are used in...
Community Insight Survey for Cash-Based Programs in Afghanistan
Case Study
The Community Insight Survey for Cash-Based Programs by iMMAP Inc. in Afghanistan provides critical insights into the effectiveness of cash-based humanitarian assistance in the country. Conducted across diverse regions of Afghanistan, the survey highlights the positive impact of cash assistance on...
Calculating the GHG Footprint of Food Aid using Cash Transfers
Case Study
In early 2021, Action Against Hunger (ACF) France is launching a GHG emissions assessment with other members of the Humanitarian Environment Network (REH). The scope of accounting target all emissions, and very quickly some activities, which can generate considerable variability in the results, are...
Cash Feasibility Snapshot Report – Site Assessment (Round 34) and Village Assessment Survey (Round 17), August – September 2023
Report
Between August and September 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Data and Research Unit (DRU), through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) methodology, deployed the Site Assessment (SA) and Village Assessment Survey (VAS) tools to assess the mobility, needs and vulnerabilities of...
Lessons Learned Workshop Report: Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) and Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) in Response to Ukraine and Impacted Countries Crisis Emergency Appeal
Report
Since the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine at the end of February 2022, approximately one-third of people from Ukraine have been displaced, leading to one of the largest displacement crises in the world. From the period of 24 February 2022 until 20 November 2023, 182,047 displaced people from Ukraine...
Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) Design, MENA Community of Practice Terms of Reference
Guidelines and Tools
CaLP Network in MENA, following a consultative process, established 4 CVA communities of practice with thematic focus and one being the CVA & Localization Community Of Practice (LCOP) in December 2021. This regional space brings together donors, UN agencies, INGOs, local actors, and other stakeholders to...
Terms of Reference Locally Led Responses Community of Practice (LLR CoP) 2024
Guidelines and Tools
CALP Network in MENA, following a consultative process, established 4 CVA communities of practice with a thematic focus, one being the CVA & Localization Community Of Practice (LCOP) in December 2021. This regional space brings together donors, UN agencies, INGOs, local actors, and other stakeholders to...
MENA CVA & Social Protection Community of Practice (CoP) Terms of Reference (ToR) 2024
Guidelines and Tools
The Social Protection Community of Practice (SP-CoP) is a network of individuals and organizations interested in sharing knowledge and experience related to social protection programs. SP-CoP aims to create a space for discussion and learning around social protection policies and programs, focusing on...
“No-one has ever helped me like this.” User journeys of cash recipients in Ukraine
Case Study
Russia‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has caused a severe
humanitarian crisis – with widespread displacement, destruction of infrastructure, and
an urgent need for humanitarian assistance. In response, the humanitarian community
has supported the Ukrainian government to initiate...