What we learned from the sixth Cash Hub Webinar on “Adapting to COVID-19″ with focus on Livelihoods and Household Security.

On 15 July 2020, cash experts from the British Red Cross, the Afghan Red Crescent Society, the Gambian Red Cross Society, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, and the Livelihoods Resource Centre led the 6^th Cash Hub Webinar undertaken jointly with the Livelihoods Resource Centre on livelihoods and household economic security.

Andra Gulei, Senior Food Security and Livelihoods Advisor at the British Red Cross, informed the participants of the three pillars of Household Economic Security: survival threshold, basic needs, and livelihoods protection. It was highlighted how many National Societies (NSs) are supporting ‘basic needs’ through Cash and Vouchers (CVA), as empowering people receiving assistance to choose how best to support themselves. Additionally, it was stressed that to support an individual’s basic needs, the link with livelihoods was stressed as something that is required to support people’s basic needs or when people do not have income they cannot meet their basic needs in future without assistance.

Asadullah Sediqi, DRR and Livelihoods Coordinator at the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), explained the way COVID-19 exacerbated health and socio-economic issues and ARCS’s response, which has been implementing Livelihoods Recovery and Development programmes pre and post COVID-19. ARCS has been working on a women’s empowerment project targeting 871 households and one of the micro-businesses that the has come out of this has included a facemask production business. Additionally, the ARCS has targeted 50,000 individuals to receive in-kind food assistance and 25,000 households to receive unconditional CVA for basic needs.

Buba Darboe, Head, Disaster Management and Food Security at the Gambian Red Cross Society, discussed an on-going CVA-related project assisting households to meet basic needs. Businesses and labourers impacted by COVID-19 have been included, alongside women-headed households, refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and stateless people. Darboe continued informing participants that pressure on households caused by food costs and limited income has increased gender-based violence since the lockdown began. 

Mike Ovsiannikov, CVA Focal Point at the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS), described their standard livelihoods programme targeting IDPs to start/restore their source of income. Additionally, Ovsiannikov discussed how, because of COVID-19, the URCS is no longer using the post office for CVA and how they have partnered with local authorities to investigate how COVID-19 has impacted the economy). Targeting was identified as a difficult task, specifically in relation to the scoring of vulnerability and the evaluation of business plans.

Adrianna Estrada, from the Livelihoods Resource Centre, described the function of the Centre in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Centre have produced practical tip sheets dealing with much needed programming advice. Additionally, they are launching a tool to help staff consider different livelihood response options, which allows them to take into consideration outputs and objectives. Tips on how to undertake response options are also included.

To register for upcoming webinars, visit the Events page of the Cash Hub platform regularly.

To watch the recording of this webinar please click here. More resources related to CVA and COVID-19 can be found on the Cash and COVID-19 dedicated section, while recordings and resources from past webinars can be found on the Cash Hub and COVID-19 Webinar Series page.