UNHCR Innovations CASH TRANSFERS A better way of reaching refugees
Fatima, a Syrian refugee now living in the the Jordanian capital of Amman, lives with her seven children in one unheated room. A few months ago, Fatima began receiving cash assistance of $120 JOD ($169 USD) per month from UNHCR, which covers most of the cost of her rent. “Before that I had to borrow money to pay the rent, and I was covered in debts,” she says. Te cash assistance also means that her 10-year-old son Ali no longer has to spend up to six hours a day selling clothes at a local market to make extra money. He is now attending school and dreams of becoming a doctor.
It is a myth that all refugees live in camps. For example, in Jordan—home to millions of Syrian refugees—over 80 per cent live within the community, outside of UNHCR’s traditional safety net.
Many of these families have been relying on relatives or friends for their survival. Two out of every three Syrian families in Jordan live below the poverty line, most in overcrowded, decaying rooms.
Instead of UNHCR procuring and distributing expensive containers of water, packages of food or blankets, refugees in Jordan are given a monthly cash card that allows them to buy things they need the most.
UNHCR has used cash assistance programs for decades with great success.
After an in-depth study, 21,000 selected Syrian families in Jordan have been receiving cash assistance since mid-2012.
Living in the Shadows, a 2014 UNHCR report, showed that after they received monthly cash assistance, the number of refugee families living in poverty was reduced by 20 per cent.
Cash assistance also restores freedom of choice—allowing families to adjust their spending where they require it the most. Overwhelmingly, they use it for rent, food, health and children’s needs.
Cash assistance also stops many families from a dangerous slide into child exploitation and/or poor health. Tose receiving cash assistance are more likely to keep children in school, dramatically reducing the risk of children being exploited or abused on the streets. And when children are sick, families use their
assistance for urgent medical expenses.
Because they are injecting revenue into the local economy by purchasing goods, families receiving cash assistance integrate better into their adopted home.
Te cash transfer card is also advantageous from a donor and administrative outlook: 97 cents of every dollar donated to UNHCR that is used for the cash transfer program goes directly to the refugee family, a more efficient use of funds.
Every month families withdraw their cash using an ATM card. State-of-the- art iris scanning technology means that only the family that qualifies for cash assistance can use the card, so it can’t be used if lost, stolen or sold.
Whenever conditions will allow, UNHCR is increasingly shifting to a cash assistance program.
© UNHCR/ Sebastian Rich
CASH ASSISTANCE RESTORES FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
UNHCR / 7
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