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Ukraine

Rapid Reflection on Cash Coordination for the Ukraine Response - Ukraine briefing paper (February 2024) [EN/UK]

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Prepared by Key Aid Consulting for the Disasters Emergency Committee

Since February 2022, Ukraine and the neighbouring countries are facing a humanitarian crisis of unparalleled scale, ranking among the fastest-growing crises observed in the past decade and the largest in Europe since the end of World War II. By April 2022, more than 30 percent of Ukraine’s population had been coercively displaced and by October 2023, 6,240,400 Ukrainian were refugees and 3,674,000 internally displaced.

In light of needs, vulnerabilities and capacities, cash transfers have been prioritized by the humanitarian community in Ukraine as the preferred and default modality wherever feasible to respond to the needs of people affected by the crisis. This led to the fastest and largest cash programming scale-up in history, shedding further light on the importance of quality cash coordination.

Using the Global Cash Advisory Group (CAG) key performance indicators for cash coordination as a guide, this paper reflects on the extent to which cash coordination was (1) timely and effective and (2) inclusive, transparent, and accountable. It draws from 28 semi-structured key informants’ interviews, desk review of available literature and a round table organised on 11 December 2023 with key cash stakeholders.

Context

In 2023, in locations where it is contextually and operationally feasible, cash transfers have been used at scale in Ukraine. Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) represented 46 percent i.e. the largest share of the 2022 Ukraine Flash Appeal at $1.720 billion over a funded total of $3.9 billion and a significant share (24 percent) of the 2023 Appeal with $959 million.

While not being exhaustive the below describe a couple of unique context identifier that influenced the effectiveness and accountability of cash coordination:

High stake cash coordination: Ukraine is a context where there is a large stake with cash coordination, first because of the size of the response and the share of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) within it; second because of the novelty of the new cash coordination model, endorsed concomitantly with the start of the Ukraine response.

A swift, large-scale response thanks to a high level of resources and a highly conducive environment with the fastest and largest cash programming scale-up in history, distributing more than US$1.8 billion in CVA between February 2022 and November 2023.

Limited pre-existing humanitarian footprint. Prior to February 2022, and the response scale-up, international humanitarian assistance had been planned to be phased out by 2023 in areas controlled by the Ukrainian Government. The Cash Working Group, initially established in 2014, was also planned to wind down. The humanitarian community therefore had to quickly pivot to scale its operation.

Mature Social Protection (SP) system that have proven to be resilient continuing to deliver benefits to a wide range of the population over the period. Seventy-three per cent of the pre-war population received at least one SP benefit, and since March 2022, the Government has scaled up social assistance to those worst affected by the conflict. The high level of effective coverage of SP offers complementarities opportunities with humanitarian CVA despite reported inadequate benefit levels.

Ukraine Cash Working Group (CWG) and its structure Aligned with the 2022 IASC Cash Coordination model, OCHA is the non-programmatic co-chair of the CWG with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Ukrainian Red Cross being the two programmatic co-chairs. As of December 2023, the CWG counts four active different thematic task teams: on CVA feasibility; on registration, de-duplication and interoperability; on gender, GBV and AAP and on response analysis and targeting as per the below figure. Other task teams were established, but these are no longer active.

The CWG established the Sub National CWG (and two Task Forces on emergency and. Communication) in Dnipro covering 11 Oblasts and regularly holds decentralised meetings in Kharkiv and in the South (Mykolaiv or Odesa-based).