Expanding the evidence on integration of cash assistance in gender-based violence case management in humanitarian settings: lessons learned from multi-country evaluations.

backgroundThe use of cash assistance in humanitarian emergencies has increased rapidly with positive outcomes across multiple objectives, including in health and protection. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is leading efforts to integrate cash assistance in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) response programs to achieve and improve protection outcomes for GBV survivors. The cash assistance within case management program was piloted in three humanitarian contexts, Colombia, Jordan and Indonesia. An evaluation of the pilots was conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of cash assistance within the case management process on safety, referrals and service uptake, and health.

methodsQuasi-experimental pre-post designs were developed for the evaluations in partnership with UNFPA, country teams (Jordan, Colombia, Indonesia) and implementing partners in locations impacted by conflict and/or natural disasters and where UNFPA had ongoing GBV programming.

resultsCash assistance is an important additional resource for GBV case management programs by contributing to improvement in safety, uptake of referral services, mental health and household relationships for GBV survivors, specifically lowering women’s symptoms of depression in three diverse humanitarian settings. In all three countries, most women receiving the cash assistance reported feeling safe in their homes. Further, women who received the cash assistance for up to six months reported improved household relationships and fewer symptoms of depression compared to women who had cash assistance for one to three months. The findings demonstrated that cash assistance within case management, as based on GBV survivors’ case action plans and safety plans, can be implemented safely and does not appear to increase women’s risk of harm.

conclusionsThe evaluation of the pilot programs found that cash assistance integrated into GBV case management, delivered by trained caseworkers, provides an opportunity for referrals and uptake of services, reduces feelings of depression for women and girls experiencing violence or at risk for violence and proves to be a valuable option in diverse humanitarian contexts. However, cash assistance (one-off and up to 6 months recurrent assistance), which can serve to meet immediate life-saving needs and medium-term needs, can be insufficient at times to meet the ongoing needs of survivors, depending on the GBV survivors’ case action plan and the support needed for them to reach their specific goals. Therefore, research on programs that provide longer-term access to cash assistance within case management in humanitarian settings is important to expand upon the learning from the UNFPA-led pilot programs in Jordan, Colombia and Indonesia.