Cash Assistance for the Most Vulnerable Project In line with the overall priority for 2016 the project  distributes cash and provides direct life saving assistance to 1140 most vulnerable and needy returnees/IDP families/other affected in 9 districts across 3 most needy governorates in Yemen, every month for six months. A total of 7980 individuals will benefit from the project, in addition to the members from the host families the IDPs are living with.

More than half of the IDPs /returnees have lost their assets and partial or entire incomes. They have little more than the clothes they are wearing. In addition to food, they need  NFIs and shelter for survival. As a result of loss / decline in resources and increase in market prices of basic commodities, IDPs/returnees are unable to meet their needs. The Yemen Resilience Monitor - Communities Coping with Conflict (April 2016/UNDP) confirms that food being a priority over anything else, most  families are spending their meager resources on buying food and are left with nothing to spend on other basic NFIs/ shelter. Majority of the IDPs /returnees were poor to start with and have now lost whatever little they had.

It is visualised that the cash provided by the project for 6 months will give the poor IDPs/returnees  a chance to recover and start considering options for rebuilding their lives. The project will also indirectly benefit the poor host families who are burdened with the additional responsibility of supporting the IDPs. It is widely acknowledged that assistance provided in the hands of women have assured benefits for the entire families. Thus, the project will particularly target women headed households. Also, considering that women suffer the most during emergencies, households with pregnant/lactating women will also be a priority. Children, elderly persons and persons with disabilities, sick persons often do not have access to the distributions. The project will take special care to target households headed by these groups as well as households having members falling in this category.

The feasibility assessment conducted for this project (uploaded on the documents tab) confirms that traders are able to supply most non-food items, even in Taiz which is under siege. Local Remittance Service Providers such as Al-Kuraimi and Al-Omki, some banks, post offices are functioning in Ibb, Taiz and Aden. Functioning  bigger markets are available within 5 km distance for IDPs and Returnees. In these markets the most of the essential household /shelter items are available. In rural areas essential commodities are available. In bigger towns and city centers, even malls are functioning. However, IDPs/returnees do not have the money to buy the needed NFI / Shelter items. Cash assistance projects are feasible in Ibb, Taiz and Aden. According to key informants, projects distributing goods often do not take the unique needs of all members of a family into consideration and provide standard packages. Beneficiaries trade these items for the ones they want. Providing cash assistance will give families the control, enabling them to cater to the different needs of the  members as well as flexibility to choose the NFIs / shelter items they prioritize. Such projects will also contribute to the local economy.

In addition the project’s approach of cash transfer through the popular remittance services, does away with time losses related to procurement and facilitates rapid assistance. The situation in the project target governorates is highly volatile. Transportation of goods is risky. Cash transfer through popular remittance services guarantees safety of the cash and of beneficiaries during distribution. Cash assistance is thus the best modality of providing assistance in Ibb, Taiz and Aden. 

Cash assistance programs are new in Yemen. This project will demonstrate a model of providing cash assistance rapidly and efficiently and contribute to developing the experience in cash transfer in Yemen.