Yemen Humanitarian Update: Issue 8, November 2024 [EN/AR]

HUMANITARIAN PARTNERS IN YEMEN SCALE UP CASH ASSISTANCE

In recent years, cash and voucher assistance (CVA) has become an increasingly popular assistance modality in humanitarian action – and Yemen is no exception. Between January and September 2024, humanitarian partners provided US$153 million in CVA to 2 million people. Much of this was multi- purpose cash assistance (MPCA), a form of unconditional cash transfer that enables people to meet various essential needs, including food, water and sanitation, shelter and medications, allowing flexibility for families to make their own choices.

In many contexts, CVA complements in-kind assistance and provides a cost-efficient instrument that empowers people affected by crisis.

According to feedback from affected people, 94 per cent of people who received MPCA said they were satisfied with the assistance provided and 97 per cent reported being able to meet all or most of their needs. In addition, almost all (99 per cent) said they experienced improvement in their living conditions and households’ access to essential non-food items increased more than fourfold from 11 to 58 per cent.

When people receive cash assistance, it also generates positive ripple effects in the community by stimulating local markets and economies. According to a Multipliers Effect Study conducted by the Cash Consortium in Yemen (CCY) in Ad Dale’, every $1 provided by MPCA generated $2.56 in local economic activity. Businesses also reported a 39 per cent increase in demand, following MPCA distributions.

CVA offers a range of other benefits. CVA can help to improve protection outcomes, particularly for women and children; feedback from affected people showed that 84 per cent of those who received MPCA no longer resorted to harmful coping mechanisms like child labor and reducing meal frequency. Cash also offers substantial cost efficiencies, as operational costs are significantly lower than for in-kind assistance – allowing humanitarian actors to make best use of limited resources.

Cash assistance comes with challenges, especially in contexts where market conditions are volatile and market functionality is impeded. In response to these challenges, humanitarian partners in Yemen have worked together through the CCY and CMWG to revise the Minimum Expenditure Basket and the MPCA Transfer Values, so that cash transfers are impactful and effectively help people to meet their needs despite price fluctuations and inflation.

Next year, humanitarian partners will continue to scale up cash-based interventions as part of the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.