Introduction
Following the Super Typhoons Haiyan (2013) and Rai (2021) the volume of humanitarian assistance distributed in the Philippines using cash modality systematically increased. In response to STY Rai (locally known as Odette), a considerable proportion of the CERF was delivered using cash and voucher assistance (CVA), some estimations reaching 60%, the largest percentage to date. The cash working group (CWG) - first established in 2014 - has once again risen to take the leading role on cash coordination in 2022. The revival of the CWG spurred discussions on harmonisation and systematisation of how cash assistance is calculated, delivered and monitored and how cash beneficiaries are targeted and their vulnerabilities assessed. The experience of STY Rai showed the need for further improvement in these areas.
Contextually, a lot has changed since version 1.0 of this “reference guide […]” was produced in 2016:
At the national level, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the World Bank released the first edition of the Operations Manual on the Implementation of the Emergency Cash Transfer During Disasters. The document presents a framework for distributing cash assistance by governmental institutions and other practitioners, including humanitarian agencies, in response to man-made and natural disasters. This reference guide was developed in order to formulate linkages with the Government while ensuring humanitarian principles, the quality of humanitarian assistance delivery, international standards and putting affected populations at the centre of program design. The CWG and its members must follow a humanitarian rationale for cash distributions that would harmonize within the acceptable boundaries of the Operations Manual.
At the international level, the Grand Bargain Cash Coordination Caucus proposed a new model for cash coordination, which was endorsed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in March 2022. The model sets forth 1. The principles and functions of cash coordination; 2. The model for cash coordination, including the roles of the CWG, ICCG and RC/HC; 3. The leadership of a non-programmatic agency (OCHA) in non-refugee settings such as the Philippines and its linkage with the global Cash Advisory Group (CAG); 4. the co-chairing CWG model with one non-programmatic and one programmatic co-chair and 5. a basic staffing model, adaptable to context and principles of resourcing. The CCC puts important new responsibilities on OCHA. As a Humanitarian Advisory Team (HAT), OCHA Philippines may need to consider adapting the ambitious expectations to the reality of limited resources, but it is nevertheless going to position its cash coordinating structure with CCC in mind, and with possible support from ROAP.
In light of the DG ECHO Thematic Policy Document No 3 on Cash Transfers (March, 2022) the cash community was enriched by the thematic policy, which goes into great detail on the operational guidance to cash assistance based on global best practices and ECHO’s strategy to CVA, from which the Philippines may, and should, benefit.
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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