Cash and Voucher Assistance

Last updated

In the realm of humanitarian aid , Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) is recognized as an umbrella term for two of the common modalities of assistance for delivering swift and flexible humanitarian aid support to populations affected by various crises, [1] the third being in-kind assistance. [2]

Contents

Together, these methods form the cornerstone of CVA strategies. While they operate differently—with cash transfers providing broad flexibility and vouchers ensuring focused support—both aim to deliver efficient and effective aid that empowers recipients and meets their immediate needs during crises.

According to data reported in 'The State of the World's Cash 2023', [4] which is created by the CALP Network (CALP), there has been an observed increase in the volume of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) in the humanitarian sector. From the year 2020 to 2022, the volume grew from approximately US$6.6 billion to US$10 billion. However, this growth in CVA volume also coincides with an overall increase in humanitarian funding during the same period. When examining CVA as a proportion of total international humanitarian assistance, the increase appears more modest, from 20.3% in 2020 to 20.6% in 2022, which is an incremental rise of 0.3% [4] a figure that CALP assessed could potentially rise to 30–40% if utilized wherever feasible and appropriate. [4]

Terminology

In humanitarian aid, the evolution of terminology has been crucial in clarifying the nature and scope of financial assistance. Initially, terms like 'Cash Transfer Programming' (CTP) and 'Cash Based Assistance' (CBA) were broadly used to encompass both cash transfers and voucher systems. However, this usage often caused confusion, as it didn't distinctly differentiate between the two, despite their differing operational methodologies and impacts.

Recipient of an aid voucher exchangable for seeds and fertilizer in Sindh, southern Pakistan, 2011 Harvesting hope for the future (5951468176).jpg
Recipient of an aid voucher exchangable for seeds and fertilizer in Sindh, southern Pakistan, 2011

Cash transfers generally provide recipients with direct financial resources, offering them the autonomy to address their diverse and immediate needs. This modality is valued for its flexibility and broad applicability in various crisis contexts. On the other hand, voucher systems are typically more targeted, allowing recipients to exchange them for specific goods or services. These are often closely aligned with sectoral objectives within humanitarian clusters such as health, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), or shelter, and are tailored to address specific needs in these areas. [5]

Recognizing these differences, the general term was changed to 'Cash and Voucher Assistance' (CVA) post-2018 to more accurately encapsulate both modalities. While humanitarian cash working groups may provide guidance on vouchers in some contexts, it's often different sectoral humanitarian clusters that manage voucher systems due to their sector-specific objectives. This distinction ensures that both cash transfers and vouchers are used effectively to meet the varied needs of affected populations, making humanitarian responses more efficient and targeted. [6]

It is equally important to clarify what falls outside the scope of CVA, as commonly understood in humanitarian terminology. CVA does not encompass financial transactions such as payments to governments, remittances, or microfinance activities. These are separate categories of financial interactions, serving different purposes often related to long-term economic development or structural financial support, rather than direct crisis response. [7]

Additionally, the term CVA is not typically used to describe longer-term economic recovery or development initiatives. This includes livelihood activities such as providing business grants to micro and small enterprises, village grants, or implementing poverty-focused programs. These activities are oriented towards sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation over a longer term. In common humanitarian terminology, these are distinct from the immediate and direct support characteristic of CVA, which is targeted at addressing the critical needs of individuals and communities in the throes of a crisis. [8]

History

Aid vouchers being issued to Syrian refugees in Jordan, 2013 Getting UK-funded food vouchers to Syrian refugees in Jordan (9634944185).jpg
Aid vouchers being issued to Syrian refugees in Jordan, 2013

The provision of aid by the transfer of cash or cash-substitutes is not novel, and can be traced back to at least 100BCE. Conditional Cash Transfers (CCT) have existed within western countries since at least the 17th century, such as the English Poor Laws. [9] However in international humanitarian aid, the traditional approach to emergency relief has tended to be the provision of in-kind assistance. [10]

Hanlon et al document a paradigm shift from the early 2000s, away from paternalistic attitudes to aid giving characterised by concerns about regulation and 'good governance', towards direct funding in cash of aid recipients. [11] As with a growth of state-funded CCT in the Global South, [12] [13] the evidence is suggestive of the efficacy of cash transfers to the poor, and the case for such transfers is compelling. [14]

In 2012, Florika Fink-Hooijer introduced cash-based aid as well as gender and age sensitive aid as part of the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. [15] [16]

The 2016 World Humanitarian Summit inaugurated a 'Grand Bargain' between aid funders and humanitarian organisations, committing to "get more means into the hands of people in need"; [17] the third workstream of the bargain, led by the UK and the World Food Program is concerned with increasing the use and coordination of cash-based programming. [18] The UN Secretary-General called for cash to be the default method of support for crisis-affected people where the situation allows. [19]

In 2020, CALP, a nonprofit membership organization concerned with capacity building in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance, has issued two 'state of CVA' reports, most recently in 2020. They document that the value of CVA has grown from US$2B in 2015, representing 7.9% of development aid, to US$5.6B in 2019 representing 17.9% of aid. [20] CVA is identified by funders such as the United States Department of State and Caritas Internationalis as an effective, efficient, and appropriate method of aid; [21] [19] Plan International has committed to asking "why not cash?" in the design of its humanitarian responses. [22] The UN World Food Programme, the world's largest humanitarian agency, disbursed US$3.3B in 2020 via CVA – 37% of its total assistance. [22] The Council of the European Union in 2015 endorsed the use of cash transfers, finding "significant scope for increasing the use of multi-purpose cash-based assistance in humanitarian responses, depending on the context". [23] The European Union, through its Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations committed to deliver 35% of humanitarian assistance in the form of cash transfers under the Grand Bargain, and has achieved an increase from 24% of the total budget in 2016 to 34% in 2019 and 2020. [24]

In 2021, technology providers, such as through the GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation programme, have responded to the opportunity of CVA by developing partnerships with providers, and by working with the wider aid community to promulgate CVA knowledge and solutions. [25]

Overview

Aid voucher issued in 2011 after 2010 flooding in Pakistan Ensuring that aid gets to those who need it (5951465990).jpg
Aid voucher issued in 2011 after 2010 flooding in Pakistan

Cash and Voucher Assistance is an umbrella term for a range of aid activities characterised by the transfer of cash, cash-equivalent or goods and services equivalent resources directly to aid recipients. [26] CVA has also been called, variously, Cash Based Intervention (CBI), Cash Based Assistance (CBA) and Cash Transfer Programming (CTP).

Plan International identify a number of forms of CVA including: [27]

Benefits and advantages of CVA are identified as including: [29]

Mechanisms for CVA include the distribution of cash in-hand; the use of a range of e-cash technologies including mobile-phone based money (mobile money), e-wallets, pre-paid debit cards, or access to money via ATM machines; and the distribution of paper or e-vouchers exchangeable for goods and services. [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Food Programme</span> Food-assistance branch of the United Nations

The World Food Programme (WFP) is an international organization within the United Nations that provides food assistance worldwide. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and the leading provider of school meals. Founded in 1961, WFP is headquartered in Rome and has offices in 80 countries. As of 2021, it supported over 128 million people across more than 120 countries and territories.

CVA may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Agency for International Development</span> United States government civilian foreign aid agency

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 billion, USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance—the highest in the world in absolute dollar terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian aid</span> Material or logistical assistance for people in need

Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Humanitarian relief efforts are provided for humanitarian purposes and include natural disasters and human-made disasters. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may, therefore, be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the conflation is viewed critically by practitioners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transfer payment</span> Governmental wealth redistribution

In macroeconomics and finance, a transfer payment is a redistribution of income and wealth by means of the government making a payment, without goods or services being received in return. These payments are considered to be non-exhaustive because they do not directly absorb resources or create output. Examples of transfer payments include welfare, financial aid, social security, and government subsidies for certain businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations</span> European Commissions department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection

The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, formerly known as the European Community Humanitarian Aid Office, is the European Commission's department for overseas humanitarian aid and for civil protection. It aims to save and preserve life, prevent and alleviate human suffering and safeguard the integrity and dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. Since September 2019, Janez Lenarčič is serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the Von der Leyen Commission, and since 1 March 2023, Maciej Popowski leads the organisation as the Director-General.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Development aid</span> Financial aid given to support the development of developing countries

Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely related concepts include: developmental aid, development assistance, official development assistance, development policy, development cooperation and technical assistance. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by aiming at a sustained improvement in the conditions in a developing country, rather than short-term relief. Development aid is thus widely seen as a major way to meet Sustainable Development Goal 1 for the developing nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aid</span> Voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another

In international relations, aid is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WIC</span> U.S. federal government program providing food assistance for low-income women and children

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutrition of low-income pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and children under the age of five as part of child nutrition programs. Their mission is to be a partner with other services that are key to childhood and family well-being. WIC serves 53 percent of all infants born in the United States.

The term in kind generally refers to goods, services, and transactions not involving money or not measured in monetary terms. It is a part of many spheres, mainly economics, finance, but also politics, work career, food, health and others. There are many different types of in kind actions throughout the mentioned branches, which can be identified and distinguished.

Gifts in kind, also referred to as in-kind donations, is a kind of charitable giving in which, instead of giving money to buy needed goods and services, the goods and services themselves are given. Gifts in kind are distinguished from gifts of cash or stock. Some types of gifts in kind are appropriate, but others are not. Examples of in-kind gifts include goods like food, clothing, medicines, furniture, office equipment, and building materials. Performance of services, such as building an orphanage, providing office space or offering administrative support, may also be counted as in-kind gifts.

In the United States, federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, or activity provided by the federal government that directly assists domestic governments, organizations, or individuals in the areas of education, health, public safety, public welfare, and public works, among others.

In different administrative and organizational forms, the Food for Peace program of the United States has provided food assistance around the world for more than 60 years. Approximately 3 billion people in 150 countries have benefited directly from U.S. food assistance. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the U.S. Government's largest provider of overseas food assistance. The food assistance programming is funded primarily through the Food for Peace Act. The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance also receives International Disaster Assistance Funds through the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) that can be used in emergency settings.

Cash assistance may refer to:

A cash transfer is a direct transfer payment of money to an eligible person. Cash transfers are either unconditional cash transfers or conditional cash transfers. They may be provided by organisations funded by private donors, or a local or regional government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adeso</span> Kenyan humanitarian NGO

Adeso is Nairobi-based humanitarian non-governmental organization.

Unconditional cash transfer (UCT) programs are philanthropic programs aim to reduce poverty by providing financial welfare without any conditions upon the receivers' actions. This differentiates them from conditional cash transfers where the government only transfers the money to persons who meet certain criteria. Unconditional cash transfers have developed on the premise that giving cash to citizens allows them to have autonomy over their own lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CALP Network</span> Nonprofit humanitarian organisation

The CALP Network is an organisation originating in 2005 and officially launched in 2009 as The Cash Learning Partnership, with the objectives of increasing the scale and quality of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) employed by humanitarian agencies around the world to deliver aid. CVA encompasses aid delivered as cash, or vouchers exchangeable for goods and services, directly to recipients, and represents an increasingly significant aid modality amounting to 21% of total international humanitarian assistance expenditure in 2022. CALP works to build CVA capacity within aid organisations, especially by providing training and e-learning; coordinates the use of CVA by agencies; compiles and shares knowledge and research; and contributes to the development of policy environments encompassing CVA.

<i>Grand Bargain</i> (humanitarian reform) Global agreement on humanitarian funding reform

The Grand Bargain: Agenda for Humanity, usually called the Grand Bargain, is an agreement to reform the delivery of humanitarian aid, that was struck at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. The agreement contains 51 specific commitments, grouped into ten focus areas, with activity targets to be completed by January 1, 2020.

<i>The State of the Worlds Cash 2020</i> Report about use of cash in humanitarian responses

The State of the World's Cash 2020 is a publication by CALP Network that reports on the use of cash and voucher assistance in humanitarian aid.

References

  1. 1 2 "Glossary of Terms". The CALP Network. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  2. ↑ "In-kind food distribution | World Food Programme". www.wfp.org. 2023-09-21. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  3. ↑ "Glossary of Terms". The CALP Network. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  4. 1 2 3 "The State of the World's Cash 2023". The CALP Network. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  5. ↑ Witcombe, Jo-Anne (2021-04-29). "A short history of cash and voucher assistance – 6 key lessons and observations". The CALP Network. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  6. ↑ "Shelter Considerations for MEB Development and MPCA Program Design: A Guidance Note | Shelter Cluster". sheltercluster.org. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  7. ↑ "Glossary of Terms". The CALP Network. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  8. ↑ "Glossary of Terms". The CALP Network. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. ↑ Alderman, Gentilini & Yemtsov 2018, p. 1.
  10. ↑ Garcia, Marito; Moore, Charity M. T. (2012). The Cash Dividend: The Rise of Cash Transfer Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank. p. 2. ISBN   9780821388983.
  11. ↑ Hanlon, Barrientos & Hulme 2012, p. 8-12.
  12. ↑ Hanlon, Barrientos & Hulme 2012, p. 3-5.
  13. ↑ Hanlon, Barrientos & Hulme 2012, p. 19-21.
  14. ↑ Hanlon, Barrientos & Hulme 2012, p. 10.
  15. ↑ Boin, Arjen; Ekengren, Magnus; Rhinard, Mark (2013), "The EU as crisis manager", The European Union as Crisis Manager, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–20, doi:10.1017/cbo9781139565400.002, ISBN   978-1-139-56540-0 , retrieved 2021-05-27
  16. ↑ Fink-Hooijer, Florika (2014-01-01). "7 The EU's Competence in the Field of Civil Protection (Article 196, Paragraph 1, a–c TFEU)". EU Management of Global Emergencies: 137–145. doi:10.1163/9789004268333_009.
  17. ↑ "About The Grand Bargain". Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  18. ↑ "Increase the use and coordination of cash-based programming". Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  19. 1 2 "Cash Transfer Programming" (PDF). Caritas Internationalis. June 2018.
  20. ↑ Vidal et al. 2020, p. 12.
  21. ↑ "Cash and Voucher Assistance". United States Department of State. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  22. 1 2 Balmer, Alam & Koirala 2021, p. 7.
  23. ↑ "Outcome of Proceedings 10184/15". Council of the European Union. 22 June 2015.
  24. ↑ "Cash Transfers". Europa.eu. Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. 1 March 2021.
  25. ↑ "Mobilising cash and Voucher assistance programmes: the case for mobile money" (PDF). GSMA. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  26. ↑ Balmer, Alam & Koirala 2021, p. 6.
  27. ↑ Balmer, Alam & Koirala 2021, p. 11-12.
  28. ↑ Pega, Frank; Pabayo, Roman; Benny, Claire; Lee, Eun-Young; Lhachimi, Stefan; Liu, Sze (2022). "Unconditional cash transfers for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities: effect on use of health services and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2022 (3): CD011135. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011135.pub3. PMC   8962215 . PMID   35348196.
  29. ↑ Balmer, Alam & Koirala 2021, p. 8.
  30. ↑ Balmer, Alam & Koirala 2021, p. 13.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.