Skip to main content

Multi Purpose Cash Assistance: 2019 Mid-Year Post Distribution Monitoring Report

Countries
Jordan
+ 1 more
Sources
UNHCR
Publication date
Origin
View original

Executive Summary

Introduction

Cash-Based Interventions (CBI) are one of the most impactful and innovative humanitarian tools utilized by UNHCR in the refugee response in Jordan. Multi-purpose cash assistance empowers refugees to choose how they use their aid, providing dignity and choice in the humanitarian response, as well as supporting host communities’ economies. As of May 2019, over 130,000 of the most vulnerable refugees in Jordan were receiving cash assistance from UNHCR to meet their basic needs, making it one of the largest UNHCR cash programs in the world, covering 17% of registered refugees in Jordan.1 94% of beneficiaries are Syrian, 4% Iraqi, and 2% are of other nationalities (mainly Sudanese, Somali, and Yemini). UNHCR’s CBI program seeks to meet the needs of refugees living in host communities across Jordan.
Farouk, 71, receives his cash assistance in Amman, Jordan, after fleeing the conflict in Syria, he has been receiving monthly cash assistance for the last four years. After having heart surgery in early 2019, he spends the majority of his cash assistance on medication, the rest on water and electricity bills.

Key Findings

Impact of Cash Assistance

A vast majority of the cash received by refugee beneficiaries is spent meeting survival needs of rent, utilities, food, and health care costs. Many of these costs, notably rent, were reported as higher in 2019 than 20182. For example, monthly reported expenditure on rent increased from 35 to 40 Jordanian Dinar (JOD)3 per household on average in 2019, a significant increase given the limited funds available to these refugees.
Use of food-related coping strategies was high among participants with the majority (77%) engaging in at least one food related coping strategy in the previous week. The rCSI score, a metric used for measuring the use of food related coping strategies, increased from 11 in the 2018 PDM to 17 in this survey, indicating a decline in food security among the beneficiary population. However, data collection was conducted during the month of Ramadan which could have impacted results as some questions rely on participants recalling non-fast time food consumption patterns.
Both Syrian and non-Syrian beneficiaries report high rates of household debt. Overall, 87% of households reported currently holding debt; with half of all households holding debt over 400 JOD. Male Heads of Household (MHH) tended to be in more debt, by about 250 JOD, than Female Heads of Household (FHH); a finding that was also seen in the 2019 Population Survey4 and requires further exploration.
A majority of beneficiaries clearly expressed that they have no major issues accessing their cash assistance: 77% reported needing less than a half an hour to withdraw assistance and 62% of beneficiaries reported required 2 JOD or less in transportation money to travel to an ATM. A few access barriers remain for a minority of beneficiaries, primarily due to travel times, issues with the iris-scanner, or technological literacy.
In terms of accessing UNHCR help to understand the cash system, 85% of beneficiaries reported using the Helpline before and of those who accessed the Helpline Services, 82% were satisfied with their experience.