ArticleBMJ global health2022
Cash, COVID-19 and aid cuts: a mixed-method impact evaluation among South Sudanese refugees registered in Kiryandongo settlement, Uganda.
Article in BMJ global health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unintended Consequences of COVID-19 Public Health and Social Measures in Camps and Camp-Like Settings: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Analysis.Public health reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Infectious disease research in forcibly displaced populations: A systematic review in low- and middle-income host countries.Journal of migration and health · 2025Review
- Kukaa Salama (Staying Safe): a pre-post trial of an interactive informational mobile health intervention for increasing COVID-19 prevention practices with urban refugee youth in Uganda.International health · 2024Article
- Understanding the barriers and facilitators of COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy adoption and COVID-19 vaccination in refugee settlements in Uganda: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- The effects of emergency government cash transfers on beliefs and behaviours during the COVID pandemic: Evidence from Brazil.Journal of economic behavior & organization · 2023Article
- Experiences of conditional and unconditional cash transfers intended for improving health outcomes and health service use: a qualitative evidence synthesis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- Food Insecurity among International Migrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- An Unconditional Cash Transfer Program for Low-Income New Yorkers Affected by COVID-19.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2023Article
- Incorporating cash-based interventions into food assistance programs in humanitarian settings.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Unconditional cash transfer to reduce the burden of unmet surgical needs.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesIn this paper, we estimate the impact after 4-8 months of a large one-off unconditional cash transfer delivered to refugees during a time of dual shocks: the COVID-19 pandemic and cuts to monthly aid. We focus on four key outcomes: (1) health-seeking behaviour; (2) COVID-19 specific preventive health practices; (3) food security and (4) psychological well-being.
methodsWe use both quantitative and qualitative data to understand the impact of a cash transfer in this context. Quantitatively, we use a baseline survey of 1200 households (Q4 2019) and follow-up with three rounds of phone surveys in Q2 and Q3 2021, capturing at least half the sample in each round. We exploit an experimental variation in the timing of the cash transfer to assess the effect of the cash transfer through ordinary least squares regressions of intention to treat. Controlling for key baseline characteristics, we analyse the effect of the cash transfer on health access, COVID-19 health practices, food security and psychological well-being. Qualitatively, we make use of a longitudinal, small-n sample of refugee respondents, each of whom we interviewed up to 15 times between February and September 2020 to understand change over time and to go deeper into key topics.
resultsWe do not find a statistically significant effect (6.2%, p=0.188) of receiving the cash transfer on preventative measures against COVID-19. However, households receiving the cash transfer were more food secure, with a 14.4% (p=0.011) improvement on the food security index, have better psychological well-being (24.5%, p=0.003) and are more likely to seek healthcare in the private health facilities (10.4%, p=0.057) as compared with control households. We do not find significant results on the value of food consumption. Overall, we find stronger treatment effects for households that were the first to receive the cash transfers.
conclusionTaken together, we find significant support for the importance of cash transfers to refugee households mitigating against declines in food security and mental well-being in the face of shocks.
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