Extending multi-purpose cash assistance to people in need in hard-to-reach and under-served townships in Sagaing and Magway to meet Food Security, ShelterNFI and WASH needs Mercy Corps (MC) proposes to partner with Shwe Nyar Myay Development Foundation (SNMDF), Thuti Manaw Paharita organization (TMP), and Gathering House (GH) to extend humanitarian support to 6,580 crisis-affected households (HH) (32,900 individuals) in 8 under-served and hard-to-reach townships in Sagaing and Magway with high displacement rates. The 9-months project will improve the food security and meet the critical Shelter/NFI and WASH needs of acutely vulnerable HHs through cash and voucher assistance (CVA) programming, specifically multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA), in order to meet their basic needs and improve their well-being and the dignity of their living conditions.  
  
Specifically, MC will provide MPCA to: 
* 4,480 HHs (22,400 individuals) in 5 townships in Sagaing (Budalin, Taze and Tabayin through partner TMP  Myaung through partner SNMDF Kanbulu through partner GH) with a one-off cash transfer, based on a multisectoral package covering Food, ShelterampNFI and WASH needs (see Annex A for the analysis behind the transfer package).  
* 2,100 HHs (10,500 individuals) n 3 townships in Magway (Myaing , Pauk and Yesagyo through partner GH) with a one-off cash transfer, based on a multisectoral package covering Food, ShelterampNFI and WASH needs (see Annex A for the analysis behind the transfer package). 
  
A total of $US 596,670, representing 66% of the proposed budget, will be directly transferred to program participants for them to make their own purchasing choices. MC will leverage and expand its current cash distribution architecture and partnerships in Sagaing and Magway, its demonstrated capacity to deliver and access affected populations, and its expertise as co-lead of the Cash Working Group (CWG). Throughout the past months, as MC has continued implementing in Sagaing and Magway, it has become clear that the needs are much higher than what we can currently cover with available funds, and local partners have been strongly advocating to support the increasing number of households in need. This program was designed to respond to those identified needs.

Thanks to the four local partners Mercy Corps has been partnering with from the beginning of 2022, our response currently covers 18 townships in Sagaing and 5 townships in Magway. A successful pilot program has effectively opened up a new window of opportunity for aid actors in Myanmar to work with religious charity groups, also known as paharitas. Paharitas are CBOs led by religious leaders, including monks, and operate through private donations and remittances often as first responders in emergencies for communities. MC is tapping into such existing structures with our proposed partnership with Thuti Manaw Paharita (TMP), who are already assisting communities in target locations. All three local partners chosen for this project have a strong presence and relationships in the target areas, and will play a critical role in community sensitization, program participant identification, and engagement with local vendors. 
   
All activities align with the Allocation’s respective cluster objectives as well as with the Strategic Objectives outlined in the Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2022, namely SO1) lives are saved and the overall health and mental and physical well-being of people affected by conflict and natural disaster is improved through timely and integrated assistance, and SO2) living standards of vulnerable people of all genders and diversities are improved and their resilience is strengthened. The proposed project aligns with the MHF 2022 Standard Allocation Round One Allocation Strategy’s priority to provide multi-sectoral assistance to people in need in hard-to-reach and under-served areas and complies with its overall approach and priority interventions. MC’s proposed assistance further builds on the prioritization done for MHF Second Reserve Allocation (2022).