Giving cash can, paradoxically, do good while saving charities money.
Link to the article: https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/kirsty-marrins-digital-revolutionising-humanitarian-aid/digital/article/1494082
On 13th September 2018, the British Red Cross convened a Cash Conference on behalf of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, guided by the theme ‘Towards Transformation’.
This report summarises the key themes that emerged on the day, with a view to further the global debate on the scale-up of humanitarian cash transfers:
Download the executive summary here.
Download the full report here.
Video recordings of the different panels are available on YouTube:
Watch the opening remarks.
Watch the keynote speakers.
Watch the session on localising the cash agenda.
Watch the session on connecting humanitarian cash and social protection.
Watch the session on innovation in cash transfer programming.
Watch the session on cash in conflict.
Watch the closing remarks.
To gain a practical overview of how the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement uses cash in emergencies watch this video with examples from Kenya (Isiolo) and British Virgin Islands.
Ahmad buys groceries with money he received from the Red Cross cash assistance programme in Amman, Jordan.
© Andrew McConnell / the British Red Cross
This week, on Thursday 13 September, the British Red Cross is convening a Cash Conference on behalf of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRCM). This is an exciting time for the humanitarian sector and its partners as we consider the future role of cash in humanitarian aid.
Cash assistance is a well utilised tool in the humanitarian world already, but is it going far enough? What more can we be doing to ensure that cash assistance is truly localised and improving the outcomes for people in crisis? Is our own global aid system preventing us from responding to crises in a more timely, efficient and effective way with more choice and dignity for affected populations? How does responding with cash in conflict differ to a natural disaster response?
These are all questions we’ll be discussing at the conference. The day will bring together senior representatives from across different sectors, including the humanitarian community, academia, the private sector and government, to engage in a conversation about the potential role of cash in transforming humanitarian aid.
I am delighted to count among the speakers and panel discussants representatives from the RCRCM, WFP, DFID, CaLP, IRC, Oxfam, ODI, Mastercard, GiveDirectly, InterNews, GSMA and others.
An estimated $2.8billion of international humanitarian assistance was allocated to cash transfer programmes in 2016; while this is a positive increase from 2015, this is still less than 10 per cent of total humanitarian aid. If we are serious about transforming aid, this must change.
The RCRCM has a long history of delivering cash-based interventions, and now runs some of the most ambitious cash programmes in the world, including in Kenya, Pakistan, Turkey, the Philippines and the United States. We want to harness this knowledge and experience and join efforts with our global partners to improve the impact of humanitarian assistance. The British Red Cross’ first ever impact report, The Difference We Made in 2017, to be published this week, highlights numerous examples where cash has been used to support crisis-affected communities across the globe.
One step we’ve taken towards strengthening the use of cash is through creating an online Cash Hub, in partnership with IFRC and ICRC, which we will be officially launching at the Cash Conference on Thursday. This global resource will be available to help strengthen the global work in humanitarian cash assistance. The Cash Hub offers quick and easy access to key resources, programme guidance and tools for cash practitioners. It also hosts the ‘Cash School’ to train practitioners, a Helpdesk as well as a Forum to assist operations with technical advice, relevant information and signposting to online resources.
I invite you to share the Cash Hub resource through your own channels, and to join us on Thursday by using the Twitter hashtag #RedCrossCash and logging into our live stream of the day.
David Peppiatt
Director, Humanitarian Cash Assistance at British Red Cross
The growth in importance of cash based programming and the British Red Cross experience have highlighted the urgent need to develop senior level cash based programming expertise that goes way beyond awareness, sensitisation and basic proficiency. There is a clear need and common interest for more competent, confident and qualified individuals to design and implement cash based assistance programmes within the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement. The Cash Practitioner Development Programme aims to address the shortage and to grow and develop a cadre of cash experts to facilitate scale up across the Movement, specifically answering the shortage of cash delegates.
The Cash Practitioner Development Programme is a 12-month programme to strengthen the cash based assistance programming expertise of humanitarian professionals. The 12-month scheme is a flexible, work-based learning programme for individuals that tailors a combination of training, mentoring and humanitarian deployments to develop and enhance advanced cash based programming expertise. The British Red Cross is launching the pilot programme in September 2018, with participants attending from across the Movement, with more places becoming available over the coming years.
The British Red Cross worked with a team of specialists in humanitarian training from the Conscious Project, alongside input from other humanitarian organisations pivotal to the development of the programme, to research and design the programme. Research showed us that it was fundamental to design a programme that looked for opportunities and appetite for collaboration. In order to build an inclusive model, it was recognised that there is a strength and sustainability in working with other entities. Since cash is an area that is rapidly growing and changing, opportunities to improve the number of cash specialists and the quality of their capacity across the sector can only be an advantage to the scheme. Additionally there is a need to have multiple entry points into the programme, so that individuals can develop depending on their previous experiences and skills. Cash learning being most effective on deployment when it is applied in context was a strong theme, and has been built into the core of the programme. Whilst there is a clear need to develop technical knowledge, there is also a need to develop non-technical competencies. This programme therefore focuses on strengthening expertise in four main areas: technical competence, professional competence, organisational understanding, and application in the humanitarian context.
The programme allows practitioners to be part of a community of practitioners holding themselves to a high standard of competence, and to benefit from a structure for continuing professional development.
Jenny Harper, Cash Assistance Learning & Development Manager
Author: Adrianna J. Soverall
Ag. Public Health Communications Specialist – Ministry of Health and Social Development
Representatives from British Overseas Territories are meeting in the Territory this week to prepare, design and implement cash-based response for emergencies.
The three-day workshop titled, the Collaborative Cash Programming in Shock Responsive Social Protection will address and apply lessons learnt from the Joint Cash Platform operation also known as the Financial Assistance Programme in the British Virgin Islands.
Minister for Health and Social Development, Honourable Carvin Malone declared the workshop officially opened and stated, “It is rather encouraging to see so many persons from various local, regional and international organisations gathered in this room as we embark on this journey to learn from each other and to chart a new course of sinuous collaboration for the betterment of the people each of us serve.”
The Financial Assistance Programme was implemented by the collaborative efforts of the Government of the Virgin Islands, BVI Red Cross, Caritas Antilles, UKAID, British Red Cross, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the Department for International Development (DFID), and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
A total of 1074 applicants benefited from the programme for a period of three months, from November 2017 to January 2018. Households received disbursements that ranged from $800.00 USD to $1200.00 USD. These funds in turn benefited the local economy during the earliest stages of recovery from the storms of 2017.
The workshop’s aim is to define the role of emergency cash intervention; provide an outline of what needs to be done to systemise the use of emergency cash within an existing social protection system; and outline an action plan for preparedness and response activities.
Honourable Malone also addressed the humanitarian efforts of all agencies involved in the Joint Cash Platform and stated that the greatest hope for a small Territory, when confronted by overwhelming challenges is to empower the people to rebuild their lives and their country with dignity.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Development, Ms. Petrona Davies; Chairman of the BVI Red Cross, Mr. Geoff Brooks; and Social and Economic Policy Specialist for UNICEF, Ms. Maya Faisal also made remarks at the opening of the workshop.
Residents who are still experiencing financial hardships, can contact the Social Development Department at 468-3650, 468-9371 or email by socialdevelopment@gov.vg for more information on getting assistance.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development aspires to provide a caring and integrated system of health and social services that facilitates human development and quality of life in the British Virgin Islands.
To read the original article click here.
In December 2019, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) published the second edition of the Asia-Pacific cash-based interventions newsletter. This quarterly update covers all news on cash activities, events, publications and resources across the Asia-Pacific region. The next edition will be published in April 2019.
To read past issues, visit the IFRC webpage dedicated to the latest news on the Asia-Pacific region, or check the resources available in the Asia-Pacific section of the Cash Hub platform:
- Cash-Based Interventions Asia-Pacific Newsletter, issue 1
- Cash-Based Interventions Asia-Pacific Newsletter issue 2
By •
I have just come back from Lebanon and have seen first-hand how Syrian refugees there are struggling.
More than a million Syrians refugees now live in Lebanon. You may have seen in the news that harsh winter weather has hit them hard.
Vulnerable families are picking up the pieces after a storm drenched the tents in which many Syrians now live. Heavy snow and floodwaters and have damaged hundreds of makeshift camps.
Winter, Aarsal in Lebanon © Lebanese Red Cross