Overview
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements Cash in Emergencies Toolkit is a practical guide designed to help National Societies, partner agencies, and humanitarian actors design, launch and manage cashbased interventions (CBIs) in the aftermath of disasters, conflicts or complex crises. The toolkit consolidates lessons learned from more than two decades of cash programming, aligns with the Movements humanitarian standards, and offers readytouse templates, checklists and decisionmaking aids.
Cashbased assistance has become a cornerstone of modern disaster response because it respects dignity, expands choice, stimulates local markets and can be deployed more quickly than many commoditybased options. Yet, cash programming also brings unique operational, financial and protection challenges. The toolkit therefore balances strategic guidance with practical tools, enabling users to adapt cash interventions to varied contexts while upholding the Movements principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.
Core Principles of Cash Programming
All cash interventions should be underpinned by five interrelated principles:
- Do No Harm: Systematically assess potential protection risks and market impacts before delivering cash.
- ContextDriven Design: Tailor the modality (e.g., vouchers, mobile money, direct cash) to the local economy, digital infrastructure and cultural norms.
- Efficiency and Effectiveness: Use mechanisms that minimise transaction costs and maximise speed of delivery.
- Accountability to Beneficiaries: Ensure transparent communication, grievance mechanisms and participation of affected populations in design and monitoring.
- Compliance and Transparency: Meet donor requirements, antimoneylaundering (AML) standards and internal financial controls.
Tip: The toolkits Principles Checklist can be completed in a single workshop to verify that each principle is addressed in the emerging design.
Toolkit Components
The toolkit is divided into three layers Planning, Implementation and Monitoring & Evaluation each containing a set of downloadable templates and guidance notes.
1. Planning Layer
- Rapid Needs Assessment Template a onepage tool to capture household cash needs, market conditions and vulnerability criteria.
- Cash Modality Decision Matrix helps choose between vouchers, electronic transfers, cash cards, or physical cash based on security, reachability and market depth.
- Risk & Protection Screening Tool identifies groups at heightened risk of exploitation, genderbased violence or fraud.
- Budgeting & CostBenefit Spreadsheet estimates transaction fees, staff time, monitoring costs and compares them with commoditybased alternatives.
2. Implementation Layer
- Beneficiary Registry & Verification Form supports transparent selection, deduplication and verification of recipients.
- Partner & Vendor Agreement Templates standard clauses for contracts with banks, mobile operators, voucher providers and local NGOs.
- Disbursement SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) stepbystep process for loading, validating and distributing cash.
- Communication Guide sample messages for public announcements, SMS alerts and community meetings.
3. Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Layer
- Realtime Monitoring Dashboard visualises disbursement rates, coverage, and any redflag alerts.
- Impact Evaluation Framework outlines indicators such as household consumption, market price stability, and beneficiary satisfaction.
- Grievance Redress Log records complaints, response times and outcomes.
- AfterAction Review (AAR) Template captures lessons learned and recommendations for future cash cycles.
Implementation Steps A Practical WalkThrough
- Trigger the Cash Response Use the Rapid Needs Assessment to confirm that cash is the most appropriate modality given the scale of displacement, market functionality and security.
- Define Eligibility Criteria Apply objective vulnerability markers (e.g., loss of income, damage to dwelling, singleparent households) and crosscheck against protection screening results.
- Choose the Delivery Modality Populate the Decision Matrix; in areas with high mobile penetration, electronic transfers are preferred, whereas remote hilltop villages may require physical cash.
- Set Up Financial Partnerships Sign the Partner Agreement, conduct duediligence checks, and test the transaction flow with a pilot batch of 2030 beneficiaries.
- Build the Beneficiary Registry Collect verified identification, bank or mobile details, and consent for data use; deduplicate using the provided software tool.
- Disburse the Funds Follow the Disbursement SOP; for electronic transfers, schedule batch uploads, monitor success rates, and send confirmation SMS.
- Provide Ongoing Communication Use the Communication Guide to inform beneficiaries about how to use the cash, where to seek help, and the grievance process.
- Monitor & Adjust Review the Realtime Dashboard daily; if transaction failures exceed 5% or market prices spike, pause disbursement and conduct a rapid market assessment.
- Evaluate Impact After 36months, use the Impact Evaluation Framework to measure changes in food security, school attendance and livelihoods.
- Document Lessons Complete the AfterAction Review; share findings with the Movements Cash Learning Forum.
Each step includes a checklist within the toolkit to ensure no critical element is missed.
Further Resources
The toolkit links to additional materials that complement cash programming:
- IFRC Humanitarian Guidelines standards for protection, gender and accountability.
- Red Cross Financial Emergency Management Handbook.
- UNICEF Cash Transfer Policy useful for joint operations.
- Full Cash in Emergencies Toolkit (PDF) downloadable version with all templates.
For technical support, National Societies can contact the IFRC Cash Coordination Unit at cash@ifrc.org.
