CARE runs various programs where cash and vouchers are provided to support humanitarian crises and assist in emergencies.
Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) includes programs where people affected by a crisis receive cash or vouchers to pay for goods and services. CARE uses these approaches in sudden emergencies such as earthquakes and cyclones, slow-onset crises such as El Niño-driven droughts, and protracted humanitarian crises that continue over longer periods.
The importance of Cash and Voucher Assistance in emergencies
People affected by the same crisis do not always need the same things. One family may urgently need food, while another needs medicine, rent, school supplies or farming equipment.
Giving cash to people affected by crises has increasingly shown to be a more effective, efficient and transparent means of providing people with humanitarian assistance. Cash assistance supports people’s dignity, choice and self-determination, enabling them to decide on how to prepare, prioritise and take care of their families in times of crisis.
Cash and voucher assistance also supports local economies during crises by directing money into the local economy.
Gender-responsive cash assistance
When it is feasible, appropriate and safe, CARE uses gender-responsive cash and voucher assistance. CARE also draws on its experience with Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs), adapting the approach for emergencies.
Combining savings groups with cash assistance can support immediate humanitarian needs while strengthening women’s leadership, economic empowerment and community safety nets. Women participating in savings groups are also frequently among the first people to respond when emergencies affect their communities.
What makes Cash and Voucher Assistance work for women and girls?
CARE’s research on its global Cash and Voucher Assistance programming highlights six key principles that make these effective and responsive to the needs of women and girls:
- Sensitive to the needs of women and girls
- Designed not just for them, but with their active involvement
- Based on careful and thorough research
- Aimed at creating lasting positive changes in women’s roles and relationships
- Focused on helping women manage their money better over time
- Created to keep women safe and protected
Cash and Voucher Assistance in action: Responding to floods in Goroka, Papua New Guinea
In March 2024, flooding from the Asaro and Yogizoi rivers in Goroka in Papua New Guinea’s Eastern Highlands Province affected thousands of people and damaged food gardens, homes, coffee plantations, roads and bridges.
Following impact, needs and market assessments, CARE worked with Papindo Group to provide food vouchers to 500 households. The Eastern Highlands Province Disaster Office subsequently adopted CARE’s approach, working with Papindo Group to provide vouchers to more households.
“The cash voucher assistance has greatly helped my family; my children now have food to eat before going to school, and I was able to plant a new garden,” explains a community member.
The response was funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.
To support people in emergencies, donate to our Global Emergency Fund today.
Photos: © CARE Myanmar, © Sosh/OXFAM, © Elisa Oddone/CARE, © Benson Wanguare/CARE
