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SUMMARY
Multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) is considered to be one of the most essential tools for supporting vulnerable households during wartime. The purpose of MPCA, similar to other interventions, is to meet the basic and most urgent needs of vulnerable households. Given needs are often highly individual and evade easy categorization according to the different humanitarian sectors, such as food, health, education, shelter, and others, the flexibilty of MPCA is often perceived as particuarly able to address the vulnerabiltiy of households. To continue to address the highly individual nature of vulnerable households’ needs requires analysis of existing responses, including MPCA, to ensure aid providers meet the needs of affected populations.
The role and scale of cash assistance in global humanitarian response is steadily increasing,12 with advocates arguing it not only offers greater economic efficiency, but also provides more choice for recipients in meeting their needs.3 As a result, people can experience a greater sense of dignity and control over their own lives.
As of today, Ukraine ranks first in the world in terms of MPCA being provided to the population. In 2024, MPCA worth 288.36 million USD was provided in Ukraine, reaching 1.05 million people in Ukraine.5 The assistance is provided to the most vulnerable households that meet the defined vulnerability criteria (e.g. households headed by women, households with people with severe chronic diseases, and others).6 All eligible households, after completing verification and scoring procedures, receive 3,600 UAH (approximately 85 USD) in MPCA monthly per household member for a period of three months. The funds are disbursed in a single transfer of 10,800 UAH (approximately 255 USD) per household member immediately after the completion of all verification procedures.
Within this context and with financial support from the Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund (UHF), organizational support from the Cash Working Group (CWG) Ukraine, and informational support from ACTED, REACH conducted an indepth study of MPCA recipients in hromadas in the front line Kharkivska and Khersonska Oblasts. The study was conducted among households receiving MPCA for the first time from ACTED. The aim of the study was to provide an evidence base on the degree and ways multi-purpose cash contributes to achieving targeted sectoral outcomes for beneficiary households in Ukraine enabling transparent, efficient, and data-driven decision-making of the CWG and humanitarian clusters.
To achieve this goal, the study assessed household purchasing patterns, the degree to which needs were met in a satisfactory way, the coping strategies used, and how MPCA influences these aspects. The study was carried out in two phases – baseline and endline. The baseline phase took place in October and November 2024, during which data was collected shortly after the completion of verification and preparatory processes required to receive MPCA, but before the funds were actually distributed. This phase assessed vulnarable households’ capacity to meet basic needs without MPCA, as well as expectations regarding MPCA, plans for its use, and beneficiaries' views on how well MPCA aligned with their needs. The endline phase was conducted after the MPCA had already been fully or mostly used, which took place in the second half of January 2025. During this phase an in-depth assessment was carried out to examine how households used MPCA, the extent to which it contributed to meeting specific household needs aligned with varoius humanitarian sectors, and the identification of households’ needs which require complementary humanitarian programming alongside MPCA.