Contribution 2017-2018 to the Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP)

During the last ten years, evidence has proven that CTP represents an effective and efficient tool to support affected populations in a way that can maintain dignity and choice for beneficiaries while stimulating local economies and markets. CTP is arguably the biggest innovation in humanitarian assistance in decades.

There has been a recent shift from the “why not cash?”, as its potential as now been broadly recognized by the international system, to the “how to do it?” more effectively and at scale (cash and vouchers accounted for only 7 percent of deliveries of humanitarian assistance in 2016). This shift already represents a huge development in the practice and has been essentially brought along by CaLP, which has been instrumental in improving capacity, evidence, awareness and collaboration around CTP.

However, there remain efforts to be made. This includes addressing the disrupting effect cash transfers, which are cross-sectoral by nature, have in the way the current humanitarian system is set up. To ensure CTP becomes fully automated within organizations and in the system, support to CaLP for the coming period is hence key.

SDC/HA will support CaLP’s goal to:

1. Act as a catalyst for change in attitude and practice for CTP to be used as a scalable component of quality, timely and appropriate preparedness, emergency response and early recovery.
2. Influence policy to ensure the last remaining bottlenecks in reaching cash at scale are removed and that the main partners for SDC/HA, such as the RC/RC Movement and others, are supported in their capacity scale-up.

CaLP’s global objectives during this new phase are the following:

1. Ensure sufficient funding is available for cash transfer programming.
2. Ensure cash is systematically considered as an option.
3. Build sufficient capacity for cash transfer programming.
4. Strengthen coordination.
5. Ensure the effectiveness and quality of cash transfer programming.
6. Build evidence and invest in innovation. 

These objectives have also been endorsed by the major CTP practitioners.

Advocacy is cross-cutting to all these objectives and hence the establishment of a CaLP presence in Geneva is crucial to their development.

There is a high belief in the international community that by 2020, the outlook for CTP can already be very different. SDC/HA’s current contribution to CaLP will enable key progress towards cash being used at scale in humanitarian activities, reaching more efficiency and effectiveness, and being used as an entry point for innovative approaches to programming. It is in line with SDC/HA’s Operational Concept on CTP for the period 2017-2020. The concept aims at supporting actors that still lag behind in terms of scaled-up use of cash and those that focus on building local capacities at national level like ICRC and IFRC do with the National RC/RC Societies.

Erwartete Resultate:  

Between 2017 and 2020, CaLP sets to:

• Develop a full set of tailored training programme (target of 50’000 persons trained).
• Continue to be a resource hub, and further fill gaps in standards, tools and guidance.
• Ensure coordination of CTP can benefit from a predictable approach, and provide support to coordinating bodies at national, regional and global levels.
• Ensure influential policy processes promote CTP, and stakeholders tackle strategic issues on CTP collectively. To that end, CaLP and SDC/HA together will host a Global Cash Forum in 2017 in Geneva.
• SDC/HA’s contribution for 2017-2018 will solidify the work base for this new period.

Resultate von früheren Phasen:  

• CaLP is globally recognized as the partnership strengthening good practice in CTP.
• CaLP has successfully done the transition from an organization based on its five founding members to one of 50 members of variable constituency. It has also expanded its Board and created a Technical Advisory Group to influence the global research agenda around CTP.
• In addition to ensuring appropriate resources in its Secretariat based in London, CaLP has established a regional presence with 5 advisors based in West and East Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North America. Since early 2016, CaLP has also established its presence in Geneva through its Advocacy Coordinator.
• Presence in Geneva has allowed for CaLP to successfully establish Regional Cash Working Groups, aiming at supporting national ones, take the co-chairing of the Geneva-based cash working group which is the group at global level, and provide specific support to key partners present in Geneva such as the RC/RC Movement actors as well as UNHCR, OCHA and others.
• CaLP has rolled out its basic CTP capacity building courses globally and helped some of SDC/HA main partners in institutionalizing CTP within their organization. CaLP has been instrumental in increasing the practice around CTP for the majority of medium to small organizations having less resources for capacity building.
• CaLP’s efforts on advocacy, and on positioning itself more stongly as a guide for CTP advances globally, have increased success in reaching out beyond the inner circle of humanitarian agencies and advocating and influencing the senior leadership of humanitarian agencies, as other stakeholders like donors or the general public.
• As one of CaLP’s main donors, SDC/HA has been contributing to this notable progress.

CaLP being a partnership, its work is intrinsically based on collaboration through the community of practice as well as its 50 CaLP members (incl. all the major and some smaller NGOs, UN agencies such as WFP, UNHCR and UNICEF, donors such as USAID or Switzerland, actors from the private sector such as Mastercard), ensuring maximum sharing of knowledge and harmonization between initiatives around CTP.

Many of CaLP’s key members are also SDC/HA’s partners, further increasing the relevance of this collaboration.

Phase 3 01.01.2017 - 31.12.2018   (Completed)