Provision of Cash Assistance to Persons with Specific Needs and Vulnerable Households Subjected To Potential Protection Risks in Kabul, Ghazni and Panjshir Provinces Afghanistan is going through a serious economic crisis which pose threat to millions of lives especially for those who have been affected by conflicts or natural disasters. After collapse of the republic government and takeover of Taliban in August 2021, the protection situation deteriorated and the protection risks increased for Afghans especially for those who worked with former government, women, civil activist, vulnerable populations at risk including IDPs, returnees, etc.The proposed project aims to deliver “Cash for PSN- 200 USD per individual case” assistance to Person with Specific Needs (PSN) under Individual Protection Assistance (IPA), “Cash for Protection-264 USD per household” assistance to vulnerable households that have unaddressed protection needs. IPA aims to address protection risks that are time-sensitive and require immediate actions while “Cash for Protection” targets those households who have underlying and unaddressed protection needs, and the Cash for Protection aims to prevent their imminent exposure to further risks that may jeopardize their physical and mental well-being. For PSN, the cluster approved criteria will be used which ensures the individuals under specific needs receive the assistance to address their specific needs while cash for protection will mainly focus on general protection risks affecting the target households The project will initially target 200 individuals under “Cash for PSN” (100 in Kabul, 50 in Panjshir and 50 in Ghazni) and 520 households under “Cash for Protection” (220 in Kabul, 150 in Panjshir and 150 in Ghazni) in proposed target locations on need basis. We will initially target 70% IDPs in displacement or return situations and 30% non-displaced affected population in proposed target locations. The direct cash assistance will be delivered as one-off assistance  through contracted Money Service Provider (MSP) in the presence of distribution committee formed with the collaboration of de-facto government line departments, OCT members, UN agencies, INGOs, NNGOs, community representatives and other stakeholders. Due to bank liquidity problems and feasibility of direct cash payments through contract MSP as we recently experienced in our CBI interventions, we prefer provisions of the assistance through direct cash modality through contracted MSP. The project activities will be closely coordinated with regional cluster focal points, OCHA field units, government line departments, UN agencies, IOM, INGOs, NNGOs and other stakeholders to address a collaborative humanitarian response in the target regions as well as to avoid any possible duplication in the response. In the beginning phase, a rapid market assessment exercise will be conducted in all target districts to ensure the local markets exist, are accessible, functional and have enough capacity to cover the needs of the population. The cluster recommended tool(s) will be used for beneficiary selection, vulnerability analysis and post distribution monitoring exercise. We will also use additional tools to prioritize as per vulnerability criteria to ensure those subjected to higher risks receive the assistance.  We will closely work with government line departments, beneficiary representatives and other stakeholders to identify and select our distribution points in target provinces, which shall be safe and accessible for men, women, children, elderly and persons with disability with enough facilitation in place. The COVID-19 protocols will be strictly applied throughout the implementation process to ensure safety of our staff, participants and stakeholders. Project visibility, reporting to cluster, AHF and government will be properly managed as per the requirements of each party. We will use the services of AWAAZ Afghanistan and our internal hotline number to register the complaints, and will ensure that the target communities receive our complaint leaflets during the assessments and distribution.