Safer cash: Ensuring risk mitigation and inclusion in multipurpose cash assistance

Cash assistance is one of the fastest growing interventions for supporting people affected by humanitarian crises. While cash assistance is not inherently more risky than other forms of aid, possible protection risks need to be considered as Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) is scaled up in a variety of humanitarian contexts. Qualitative, formative research was conducted in two countries, Cameroon and Afghanistan, to explore the range of protection risks experienced by recipients of cash assistance. These findings were used to inform the development of the Safer Cash Toolkit, which aims to give cash actors the assessment, monitoring, analytic, and decision-making tools to incorporate risk mitigation into their design and delivery of cash programs with minimal impacts to cash’s efficiencies.

The toolkit was piloted and tested in Afghanistan and adapted using an iterative, continuous quality improvement research model. Mixed methods data collection was conducted among staff and beneficiaries in two sites (intervention and control) over a period of six months to refine the toolkit and assess its feasibility and acceptability among staff involved in the design, delivery and monitoring of cash programs, as well as to assess its potential for minimizing risks for recipients. Research was completed in July 2019 and dissemination of the research report is expected in late 2019.