Cash and livelihoods

Livelihoods encompass the capabilities, assets and activities required to make a living. Ensuring that vulnerable households have sustainable livelihoods increases their access to a stable income, as well as their dignity, resilience, and ability to be active in society. Livelihoods support helps people affected by crisis to build more sustainable means of living, develop skills and gain greater access to opportunities.

Cash assistance can be an effective way to protect, restore, or enhance livelihoods which enable people to become self-sufficient and improve wellbeing for current and future generations.

Learn about the work of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in this field by accessing different resources related to cash and livelihoods below.

For more information on livelihoods, visit the Livelihoods Centre, hosted by the Spanish Red Cross and IFRC.

> Click here to find key resources

A wide range of resources on livelihoods programming, including the livelihoods toolbox, can be found on the Livelihoods Resource Centre website, hosted by the IFRC and Spanish Red Cross.
Household Economic Security (HES) guidelines and the accompanying short video that gives an overview of what HES is and how HES findings can be used. These resources are available in English, French and Spanish.
Guidelines on Cash Transfers and Livelihoods based on a learning workshop in Guatemala City.

24 January 2022

Guidelines on Cash Transfers and Livelihoods – learning workshop in Guatemala City (Nov 2015)

Type:

Learning

Organization:

CaLP, Livelihoods Centre

This documents shares lessons learned on the context in Central America, makes references to practical examples, and highlights details of cash transfer programmes for livelihoods. It also refers to various key documents on cash transfers and livelihoods.

25 May 2021

Video on the Household Economic Security (HES)

Type:

Video

Organization:

BRC

This short video gives and overview of how HES findings are a useful tool for selecting and identifying vulnerable groups for inclusion into a variety of programmes, based on their food and income sources and capacity to withstand livelihood related contextual risks.

Watch here

10 May 2021

Lessons Learnt Brief: Improving targeting for urban food banks, Social Protection in Namibia

Type:

Learning

Organization:

BRC, Namibia Red Cross Society

This document outlines lessons learnt from the collaboration between Namibia Red Cross Society and Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare to revise urban food bank eligibility criteria in peri urban Khomas Region using the household economic security (HES) approach in June 2019.

10 April 2021

COVID-19 Cash Assistance for Livelihoods: Experience of Namibia Red Cross Society

Type:

Case study

Organization:

Cash Hub, IFRC, Namibia Red Cross Society

Case study report from the Namibia Red Cross on their CVA for COVID-19 response.

29 March 2021

Bangladesh Red Crescent Society overview of cash assistance distributed (Dec-Jan2020)

Type:

Infographic

Organization:

Bangladesh Red Crescent

Short overview of the amount of cash distributed, amount of households reached, districts covered, delivery mechanisms chosen by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, which responded to emergencies and dealt with recovery and long-term programmes between December and January 2020.

26 February 2021

Household Economic Security (HES) guidelines

Type:

Tool

Organization:

BRC

An updated version of the Household Economic Security (HES) guidelines has recently been launched by British Red Cross. To read more and download this guidance document, the analytical overview and the HES glossary click on the link below.

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