Providing Cash Assistance to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

CBI Fundamentals http://www.cashlearning.org/resources/video-library/10-things-you-should-know-about-cash-transfers

What are cash-based interventions (CBI)? All programs where cash (or vouchers for goods or services) is directly provided to beneficiaries. In humanitarian assistance used to refer to the provision of cash or vouchers given to individuals, household or community recipients; not to governments or other state actors. CBI covers all modalities of cash-based assistance, including vouchers. This excludes remittances and microfinance in humanitarian interventions (although microfinance and money transfer institutions may be used for the actual delivery of cash). CBI can be used interchangeably with CBA, Cash Based Transfers (CBT) and Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) Source: CaLP Cash Transfers Glossary

Cash Transfer Modalities

Unconditional Cash No demands on beneficiaries and assumes that beneficiaries will use cash to obtain food or non-food items Non-contributory transfers and with no expectation of repayment Cash transfers are assistance to beneficiaries in the form of cash payments or bank transfers.

Conditional Cash Based on two types of conditionality Qualifying conditions: Vocational training Attending a health clinic Community works Building the foundations of a temporary shelter Use conditions: (restricted/unrestricted) Money to be spent on specified items Shelter materials, livelihood assets, school fees etc.

Cash for work Cash for work is the payment of cash wages in exchange for work that is done on public works schemes or community assets Objectives: Increase people’s purchasing power Create or rehabilitate community assets Provide temporary employment/livelihood CASH FOR WORK Cash-for-work is the payment of cash wages in exchange of work that is done either on individual projects or on public works schemes. The main objective is to increase people’s purchasing power to both enable access to immediate food and non-food needs and/or to livelihoods recovering. The secondary objective is to create community or individual assets and build local capacity by enhancing skill-sets. These assets ideally should improve the livelihoods, or public health environment of the community as a whole. The programme is designed to provide work opportunities for largely unskilled labour and be as labour intensive as possible to ensure high rates of participation. The activities, where possible, are defined, prioritised and implemented by affected communities and are designed to benefit the wider community.

Voucher Transfer Modalities Paper or electronic entitlements which can be exchanged with specified retailers Commodity vouchers Exchangeable for a fixed quantity of goods and/or services Cash Vouchers Exchangeable for the equivalent cash value with a choice of specified items Conditionality and restrictions may also apply to vouchers

Delivery mechanisms

planning to minimise risks in your approach as well

  CBI Feasibility

planning to minimise risks in your approach as well

CBI Pre-conditions Functioning markets &Availability of products Cash based economy Physical access to markets Political acceptance Community agreement Reliable recipient identification system FSP/Trader willingness and capacity Reliable payment system

planning to minimise risks in your approach as well

CBI pilot in Bangladesh: Beneficiaries: The pilot phase will target 13,000 families (approximately 60,000 individuals). Cost per family: $30 per month per family in the form of ‘cash over the counter’ Distribution: Cash will be distributed by the FSP at the cash distribution site in KTP.

Risks and mitigation measures

Mitigation measures/comments Risk Impact Likelihood Risk classification Mitigation measures/comments Inclusion/exclusion error Medium High Verification exercise before implementation; Ensure a correct, up-to-date registration list with photos or other unique identifier Taxation of beneficiaries by staff, authorities, IP Presence at distribution; strict monitoring Beneficiaries spend on anti-social items Sensitization campaign, possibility to shift to vouchers Beneficiaries spend on other priority items Women doesn’t have free access to market Sensitization campaign, design an alternate Increased violence between couple over use of entitlement Low Sensitization campaign on co-decision and management; Set-up or strengthen existing confidential complaints mechanisms Insecurity during cash distributions Involvement of police during distributions; ensure adequate crowd control measures are in place. FSP shares beneficiary data with country of origin Do a privacy impact assessment of the FSP; ensure data protection clauses in the contract Funds diverted by staff, IP or FSP Ensure anti-fraud clauses in the contract; strict monitoring Prices are fixed arbitrarily by retailers Strict monitoring; display table with prices at shop; exclusion of non-compliant traders Confusion of roles and responsibilities of different staff involved in UNHCR Define clear role for each staff involved as a part of the SOPs Delays in the distribution Clear contract clauses with IP/FSP; SOPs with timeframe for each activity/task and delegation/attribution of responsibilities; GANTT chart outlining process flows and timing Quality of the goods provided do not respect standards Clear contract clauses with product specifications/quality standards; monitoring during the distribution Complaint mechanism not responsive or not in place Define roles and responsibilities both for collecting complaints and for providing feedback Reconciliations are faulty, with omissions Ensure clauses in the contract for clear responsibilities; strict monitoring New arrivals do not receive assistance (gap between their arrival and the following distribution) New arrivals may receive the first monthly distribution in-kind; possible agreement with the FSP to assist this category

UNHCR’s Refugee Assistance Information System As result of the linking exercise FCC with MoHA

UNHCR’s Refugee Assistance Information System Keeps refugee information up to date Prevents duplication of efforts Helps to provide targeted assistance to persons of concern Reduces fraud and abuse of assistance services Provides efficient reporting tools Maintains security of data (RAIS is restricted to authorized UNHCR staff and registered users only)

Thank you! Questions/Debate gomezm@unhcr.org