UNHCR’s vision is that the people it serves can meet their needs in dignity, are protected and can transition to solutions through the expanded use of cash assistance.
Cash creates important new opportunities for meeting humanitarian needs in
ways that restore and enhance individual choice and increase opportunities for refugee inclusion.
10 LARGEST CASH OPERATIONS
1. Lebanon 2. Jordan 3. Greece 4. Yemen 5. Iraq 6. Turkey 7. Egypt 8. Syrian Arab Republic 9. Somalia 10. Afghanistan
Along with in-kind support and services, UNHCR uses cash to protect and assist people in all
phases of displacement to meet their basic and other needs.
Cash is the means and not the objective. Saving lives and protecting people comes first.
The choice of modality to assist and protect people and build their resilience is context-specific.
CASH AND PROTECTION
Cash, together with in-kind assistance and services, helped prevent displaced people from resorting to negative survival strategies, such as child labour.
In 2018, UNHCR provided more than 30 % of its overall cash to meet specific protection outcomes.
Where your money goes*.
HK$93 out of every HK$100 donated goes directly to refugee families.
Cash assistance restores a sense of normalcy and independence allowing
families to choose where they spend their money.
Key documents
- UNHCR Fact Sheet on Cash-Based Assistance 2018
- Policy on Cash-Based Interventions
- UNHCR Strategy for the Institutionalisation of Cash-Based Interventions 2016-2020
- UNHCR Operational Guidelines for Cash-Based Interventions in Displacement Settings
- Basic Needs Approach in the Refugee Response
- Statement from the Principals of OCHA, UNHCR, WFP and UNICEF on Cash Assistance