What we learned from the fourth Cash Hub Webinar on “Adapting to COVID-19″ with focus on Data and Digital Technology

On 17th June 2020, cash experts from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), British Red Cross (BRC), Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and The Netherlands Red Cross St. Maarten participated in the 4th Cash Hub Webinar on Cash and COVID-19. This online event offered a platform to discuss how the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is adapting its Cash and Voucher (CVA) strategy in response to COVID-19, from a data and digital technology perspective.

Joseph Oliveros (IFRC) shared a brief analysis of the consequences of COVID-19, which are pushing forward digital transformation to cope with the pandemic. Data is essential in CVA, and so tools and strategies are being tailored to meet this new context. Joseph reminded participants that it is not only about data but individual competencies of those managing the data.

Muhammed Amin (Pakistan Red Crescent Society), highlighted the benefits of Red Rose and how it is being used for disaster response in Pakistan. Amin explored how COVID-19 has incentivised the use of mobile money for PRCS. Additionally, in the last 4 years their CVA team has moved away from paper-based data collection, to Red Rose and ODK, which are providing ‘clean, error-free, and timely data’.

Peter Mujtaba and Jenny Harper from the British Red Cross (BRC) provided information on the Hardship Fund, a domestic UK programme targeting 13,000 people with assistance in response to the COVID-outbreak. The whole system has been setup remotely from BRC, through Zoom calls, telephone calls and email exchanges. Capacity building was conducted remotely enabling a dispersed workforce, which was under lockdown restrictions, to use Red Rose effectively.

Fernando Suárez Jiménez from the Netherlands Red Cross St. Maartens discussed the challenges that COVID-19 is presenting to CVA and informed participants on plans for staff and volunteer’s capacity building through the IFRC’s learning platform and specific CVA courses.

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

To watch the recording of this webinar you can click here, while more resources related to CVA and COVID-19 can be found on the Cash and COVID-19 dedicated section.