[Dpo-officemanagers] FW: [WUNRN] Humanitarian Aid Analysis for the Displaced - With Cash from Electronic Voucher Cards - Gender

[Simione Bula]

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Subject: [WUNRN] Humanitarian Aid Analysis for the Displaced - With Cash from Electronic Voucher Cards - Gender

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Norwegian Refugee Council
Full Article - https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2017/why-not-cash/

What Is Cash-Based Assistance?<javascript:void(0)> Electronic Voucher Cash Cards
October 13, 2017 - The nature of humanitarian crises has changed over the past 20 to 30 years. Of the 65 million people displaced today, most do not live in refugee camps. They're in cities and urban areas. More and more people are in need of humanitarian aid globally, and they're needing it for a longer period of time.
But the humanitarian aid that is actually provided is insufficient. The gap between actual needs and funding is widening. The whole humanitarian system is under immense pressure. With the money that is allocated, both donor countries and aid agencies want to maximise impact even more.
Why not just give them cash?
This is where the cash comes in. Two decades ago, Mastayabo and her family would have queued for hours to receive weekly rations of rice, flour and basic household items. But it would have been costly and time-consuming - for them and for the organisations giving them out.
"Today, a displaced family can receive an envelope of life-saving cash, an electronic card or money transferred directly to a mobile phone, with which they can buy food, pay rent and purchase what they need locally," says NRC's Secretary General Jan Egeland.
Aid agencies still distribute food to displaced people, but the last years have seen an increase in cash-based assistance. With cash, transfer logistics are easier. The people caught in crisis are able to purchase what they need, and at the same time, put money into local markets.
Technological progress can make humanitarian aid more efficient. As a signatory to the Grand Bargain agreement<http://www.agendaforhumanity.org/initiatives/3861> between the world's biggest donors and aid providers, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA) will contribute to increase the use of cash in humanitarian response.
"Although many donors are scaling up in order to meet the increased humanitarian needs, the financing gap is widening," explains Mette Tangen, NMFA's cash expert. "It goes without saying that we need to find new, innovative and more efficient and effective ways of to respond. The old way of doing business is simply not enough."
She thinks that increased use of technology, not least in the field of cash transfer, has the potential to reform humanitarian response.

Why Cash Is Smart Aid?
*         It's more efficient.<https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2017/why-not-cash/#moreefficient>
*         It's more dignified.<https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2017/why-not-cash/#moredignified>
*         It supports local economies.<https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2017/why-not-cash/#localeconomies>
*         It's more transparent.<https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2017/why-not-cash/#moretransparent>
_________________________
http://www.agendaforhumanity.org/initiatives/3861
The Grand Bargain Humanitarian Aid Agreement - Summary
The Grand Bargain is an agreement between more than 30 of the biggest donors and aid providers, which aims to get more means into the hands of people in need.
WEBSITE LINK GIVES GRAND BARGAIN PARTNERS.
The Grand Bargain was first proposed by the former UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing in its report "Too Important to Fail: addressing the humanitarian financing gap" as one of the solutions to address the humanitarian financing gap.
The Grand Bargain includes a series of changes in the working practices of donors and aid organisations that would deliver an extra billion dollars over five years for people in need of humanitarian aid. These changes include gearing up cash programming, greater funding for national and local responders and cutting bureaucracy through harmonised reporting requirements.
The Grand Bargain commits donors and aid organizations to providing 25 per cent of global humanitarian funding to local and national responders by 2020, along with more un-earmarked money, and increased multi-year funding to ensure greater predictability and continuity in humanitarian response, among other commitments.
Goals
The signatories commit to:
1.   Greater transparency
2.   More support and funding tools for local and national responders
3.   Increase the use and coordination of cash-based programming
4.   Reduce duplication and management costs with periodic functional reviews
5.   Improve joint and impartial needs assessments
6.   A participation revolution: include people receiving aid in making the decisions which affect their lives
7.   Increase collaborative humanitarian multi-year planning and funding
8.   Reduce the earmarking of donor contributions
9.   Harmonise and simplify reporting requirements
10.      Enhance engagement between humanitarian and development actors
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