Cash-based Interventions (CBIs) are a dignified form of assistance, giving recipients the ability to immediately prioritise and address their needs for food, shelter/accommodation, and other necessities. CBIs also directly complement community protection measures and support the local economy and can contribute to peaceful coexistence within and across communities. UNHCR Afghanistan has used cash-based interventions for several years for a wide range of purposes, including voluntary repatriation, basic needs, community-based protection, and livelihoods among others. UNHCR seeks to improve cash programming by regularly and systematically collecting information through post-distribution monitoring (PDM) on several aspects related to UNHCR’s CBIs including efficiency of cash delivery, access to markets, use of cash, unmet needs and coping strategies. Findings are expected to help UNHCR to improve the way the CBIs are designed and delivered.
This PDM covers two CBI programmes delivered by UNHCR in in the Eastern Region of Afghanistan in 2020, cash for protection and cash for shelter. Cash for protection was designed to support households with specific protection profiles to cope with the socio-economic consequences of COVID-19 and avoid harmful coping strategies. Cash for shelter was designed to support vulnerable households with conditional cash grants to construct safe and dignified shelter. While the programmes were carried out countrywide, supporting 13,792 households with cash for protection and 506 with cash for shelter, the Eastern Region supported the largest number of CBI recipients. As such, this region was prioritized for the PDM data collection which took place in Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Nuristan provinces.
