UNHCR Yemen post cash distribution monitoring – May 2021 [EN/AR]
Background
As part of UNHCR’s interventions to ensure that extremely vulnerable displaced Yemeni families at risk of famine have the necessary means to buy food and other essential items, in May 2021 alone, UNHCR assisted 53,549 IDP families (some 337,464 individuals) with multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) in 19 governorates, distributing more than USD 10,400,000. This assistance has been made possible through the generous support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates via the Famine Relief Fund, as well as the United States of America and the Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Bin Thani Al-Thani Humanitarian Fund.
Most of the beneficiaries in May received a second instalment as part of UNHCR multi-month MPCA programme aiming at providing longer term support with the goal of averting famine and fostering self-reliance. A third instalment was delivered in July. The programme targeted displaced families (IDPs) residing across 49 districts classified as being on the verge of famine (IPC4+). Of note, UNHCR’s extensive database based on needs assessments specifically aimed at addressing IDPs’ needs made it possible to target families who because of their displacement are four times more at risk of hunger than the rest of the Yemeni population. In this respect, eligible families were selected according to their socio-economic vulnerability, demographic profile and protection risk profiles. The selected households in northern and southern Yemen received a disbursement of YER 122,000 and YER 141,000 (USD 204 and USD 161) respectively, based on the survival minimum expenditure basket (SMEB) monthly transfer value set by the Yemen Cash and Market Working Group (CMWG). The latter considers the average household’s basic survival needs and in-country inflation. Following the distributions to the selected families, UNHCR conducted a second post distribution monitoring (PDM) exercise to understand their expenditure patterns and evaluate the impact of the cash assistance provided to them in May. As these beneficiaries had received earlier assistance in April, the report also provides a comparative analysis between the findings during both months (April and May) in relation to the key monitoring parameters.
Objective of PDM
To evaluate the impact of the cash assistance on selected families and how the cash assistance contributed to reducing their food insecurity, UNHCR through its third-party monitoring partner Grand Thorton undertook a PDM from 7 June to 13 July.
The exercise aimed at assessing the:
- Impact of cash assistance on the household’s food security status and household’s’ expenditure on food and on other household’s needs.
- Impact of the cash assistance on the household’s food consumption.
- Coping mechanisms adopted by the families before receiving cash assistance.
- Household’s safety and security in terms of access to cash distribution sites and markets as well as goods and services.
- Service quality in the delivery of cash assistance by the financial service providers as well as household’s preferred distribution modality.
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/unhcr-yemen-post-cash-distribution-monitoring-may-2021-enar