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Cash in Türkiye
Learning from the Turkish Red Crescent’s comprehensive humanitarian cash programmes in Türkiye
The Turkish Red Crescent (Türk Kızılay) has been at the forefront of large-scale humanitarian cash programming for the last decade. Its sector-leading Kızılaykart Platform enables simultaneous implementation of multiple cash assistance programmes, through the ‘Kızılaykart’ (debit card).
A series of cash assistance programmes are currently supporting vulnerable adults and children living under Temporary Protection, International Protection (applicant status and status holder) or Humanitarian Residence Permit in Türkiye, along with those affected by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.
Find further information and resources on the Kızılaykart cash-based assistance programmes here: (EN) (TR)
From 2020 to 2023 the Turkish Red Crescent and the IFRC, with funding from the European Union, implemented the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) – which was the largest humanitarian cash programme in the world.
Via the ESSN, more than 1.5 million refugees living in Türkiye received regular monthly cash assistance, enabling people to decide for themselves how to cover their essential needs such as food, rent, medicine, transport and other bills. In 2023 the programme was handed over to the Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Services, who continue implementing the now renamed Social Safety Net (SSN) programme in partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent.
Click here to access the IFRC Go Platform Dashboard for Turkiye
ESSN Learning Exchange
In December 2023 the IFRC and Türk Kızılay organised an Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) Learning Exchange event, with the support of the Cash Hub. The event, held in-person in Ankara and attended by remote participants online, was a part of proceedings marking the formal conclusion and handover of the ESSN.
The overall aim of the Learning Exchange was to use experience from ESSN implementation to contribute to the broader body of knowledge on humanitarian emergency cash and social protection programming.
Key sessions looked at the ESSN journey since its inception in 2016; community engagement and accountability (CEA) in large-scale CVA programming; innovative uses of data supporting ESSN design and implementation; programme adaptability and shock responsiveness; the value of positive campaigning via lessons from the ESSN’s unique story telling project; and at enablers for the successful implementation of a large-scale nexus programme.
Find out more here
ESSN Learning Hub: all the key resources produced by Türk Kızılay and the IFRC
ESSN monthly reports: key programmatic highlights
Kahramanmaraş Earthquake response: Find the latest resources
After the earthquake: Rapid Market Mapping and Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) analysis
23 July 2018
Emergency Social Safety Net Post-Distribution Monitoring Report – Round 1
Type:
ReportOrganization:
Turkish Red Crescent (Türk Kızılay), WFP, World BankThis report provides an assessment of the initial effects of the ESSN assistance on beneficiary households, using data of refugees living off-camp before and after receiving ESSN cash assistance. The results presented here are preliminary, and provide only a snapshot of the results from two surveys: Pre-Assistance Baseline (PAB) and Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM).
18 April 2018
Multi Sector Needs Assessment of Syrians In Turkey’s South-Eastern Provinces
Type:
ReportOrganization:
IOMIn 2017, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) office in Gaziantep, Turkey undertook a multisector needs assessment survey of 19,454 Syrian refugee households (over 100,000 beneficiaries) across four south-eastern provinces: Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay and Şanlıurfa. The assessment included questions related to basic needs, education, livelihoods, protection and shelter.
30 November 2017
Refugee, Asylum-seeker, and Migrant Perceptions on Cash Assistance – Cash transfer survey
Type:
ReportOrganization:
Ground Truth Solutions, Mixed Migration PlatformThis report analyses the views of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants surveyed in Istanbul, Gaziantep, and Izmir, Turkey between 29 September and 18 October 2017. The surveys focused specifically on cash and voucher assistance programmes and are part of a series of data collection rounds carried out by Ground Truth Solutions in Turkey, under the Mixed Migration Platform.
25 September 2017
Humanitarian Assistance to Refugees in Turkey: Pre-Assistance Baseline Results
Type:
ReportOrganization:
Turkish Red Crescent (Türk Kızılay), WFP, World BankThe report includes findings on the impact of the ESSN programme, as well as details of the pre-assistance baseline, its results – including profile of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, assistance performance indicators, simulated impact of the ESSN on poverty levels – and an overview of the next steps
17 May 2017
Profiling of caseload in need of cash-based interventions – Results
Type:
ReportOrganization:
Inter-agency coordination TurkeyThis “Cash Gap Analysis” is aimed to profile the refugee population in Turkey who require cash assistance to meet their basic needs and, in the absence of such assistance, may face heightened vulnerability to certain protection issues (e.g. child labour, early marriage, etc.). The findings are intended to inform programming and ways forward to ensure that all Syrian and non-Syrian refugees in Turkey are able to meet their basic needs.
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