Tackling barriers to cash and voucher assistance programs for unaccompanied adolescents

Project:
Taageero Cash

Location:
Sheder Camp, Ethiopia

Funders:
Stichting Vluchteling

Category:
Economic Inclusion

Challenge

In Ethiopia, refugees between the ages of 12 to 17-years-old make up almost 19% of the total population living in humanitarian camps. In Sheder Camp, located in the Somali region of Ethiopia, there are more than 300 Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC). 

While displaced young people make up a disproportionately large number of the total people in humanitarian settings, they are largely overlooked as a demographic group. Unaccompanied and separated adolescents have limited access to post-primary education and livelihood opportunities, often don’t have the right to work, and with no certainty of a durable solution, are unable to plan a future life for themselves, often ‘living in a state of limbo’.

Furthermore, young people continue to fall through the cracks when programs designed to help fail to address the needs of young people. One example is Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) programs, which have proven to be an effective, efficient, and dignified way to help vulnerable people access basic needs while living in both development and humanitarian environments. This ‘basic needs cash’ that is given to primary caregivers and families can indirectly benefit adolescents who live within the household. However, young people who are UASC or who are the heads of their households are not eligible for these programs and can’t directly access or engage in the process. Until now, young people have been excluded from CVA programs because the sector lacks clear guidance on how to safely and effectively engage them in the process. 

To address this challenge, programs must be adapted and designed to meet the unique needs of young people living in humanitarian settings and should be a part of a much larger child protection program.

Opportunity for Design

In July 2021, IRC Ethiopia team, with the support of YLabs, piloted the first cash distribution program that directly served vulnerable youth: the Taageero Cash Program.

This pilot was conducted in Sheder Refugee Camp with the intention of informing cash distribution to youth in the larger context of refugee settings.

This study builds off of findings from Design Research in early 2021 about the lives of UASC in Sheder Camp.

In this phase, we focused on assessing the impact and potential adverse consequences of Taageero’s first cash distribution to youth.

Pilot Questions

1. Can CVA provided directly to youth lead to improved child protection outcomes?

2. What is the optimum delivery model for CVA to youth living in different care arrangements in humanitarian contexts?

3. What, if any, are the adverse consequences of CVA for youth? 

4. What, if any, complementary skill-building training for youth is needed to ensure proper use of CVA?

Methodology

We engaged 75 community members recruited by IRC, including 40 youth & 22 caregivers who participate in the program, as well as 13 influencers via intercepts at the point of service and follow-up in-depth interviews.

Influencers included social workers, caseworkers, religious leaders, camp administrators, zone leaders, and shopkeepers.

Working with Youth Designers

YLabs provided training and mentorship to four youth members of the Sheder Camp community. They became an integral part of of the team as Youth Designers, and were compensated for their time and expertise.

The engagement of Youth Designers has been paramount in allowing us to keep a strong pulse with the community's socio-cultural reality.

It also gave the project the opportunity to provide capacity building to four promising youth in the community.

Key Learnings

// 1 // Can cash provided directly to youth lead to improved child protection outcomes?

Yes. Youth prioritized their spending on resources that improved their safety, future success, and wellbeing. Youth largely utilized their cash to stay in school, which is seen as the safest environment and clearest pathway to successful adulthood in the camp.

// 2 // What is the optimum delivery model for CVA to youth?

Despite the increasing global attention on mobile money, in Sheder, cash is king. Cash was preferred by youth and caregivers because it is accessible to everyone irrespective of literacy status or access to technology, and accepted by any shopkeeper.

For most interviewed youth, the safest way to store money is to give it to a trusted caregiver to keep at home for them.

The second preferred modality is mobile money and is widely known amongst youth due to heavy marketing campaigns by platforms such as E-Birr, HelloCash, and CBE in Aw Barre and Sheder.

However, it is unclear how many youth are actually users of mobile money today. Despite strongly positive associations, such as convenience and safety, we didn’t find evidence of widespread local use.

// 3 // What, if any, are the adverse consequences of CVA for youth?

The benefits of giving cash directly to youth to protect their safety and wellbeing far outweighed the risks. Vulnerability status dictated the specific challenges youth faced with the cash distribution, however, risks were overall negligible when compared to the benefits.

// 4 // What, if any, complementary skill-building training for youth is needed to ensure proper use of CVA?

There are unequivocally bright dreams for youth in Sheder Camp, but segmentation of needs and skills gaps is critical for transformative growth.

Caregivers and youth regard this generation, even the less fortunate in the camp, as having unprecedented opportunities to thrive. However, ‘vulnerable’ youth are not a monolith and how to best help them requires a lens of inclusivity across the spectrum.

Core Principles of CVA for Youth

Our learnings point toward four core principles that should anchor any CVA program designed for youth:

A. CLARITY

Empower frontline staff to provide clear and consistent program information to everyone.

Lack of information generates rumors and may affect youth’s spending behaviors (UNHCR, 2021). 

Community members reached out to the frontline staff with questions and concerns about the program, not to official feedback mechanisms.

Frontline staff should be able to provide answers to families’ most common questions (e.g. eligibility criteria; amount, frequency, and duration of distributions), collect feedback, and follow up on complaints. 

B. CONVENIENCE

Make collecting and spending cash a seamless, dignified experience.

When distribution is in cash, make it available over several days, avoiding excessive wait times and giving multiple opportunities for youth who work outside the camp (the most at-risk for unsafe labor practices) to access the funds.

When the distribution is not in cash, ensure the new modality is widely accepted by youth’s preferred vendors and does not require an intermediate to access funds on their behalf (e.g. a caregiver who owns the family phone or the right to use the technology).

C. INCLUSIVITY

Make the program work for the most vulnerable.

Involve community leaders and harmonize databases (Owino, 2020) to ensure eligibility of youth who are often invisible to programs (e.g. unaccompanied, disabled, working, married, or out-of-school youth).

Ensure programming activities and feedback mechanisms are accessible to all youth (e.g. girl-only sessions, minority representation amongst trainers, accessible or in-home services for the disabled, etc. (UNHCR 2021).

D. ACCOUNTABILITY

Couple CVA with strong case management.

Money alone will go a long way, but for the cash distribution to optimize youth resilience, it should come hand in hand with strong case management.

This is particularly relevant for UASC, who bear the burden of multiple risks factors, particularly when placed with non-relational or extended-relation caregivers. A strong mechanism for reporting needs to be in place to monitor and address risks to youth.

Programming Building Blocks

Based on our findings, four programming building blocks were shown to be essential for the success of designing CVA programs aimed at youth. 

1. Give money directly to youth

2. Support with financial literacy training

3. Create resilience through local mentorship

4. Commit through the long-run

This project was made possible with the generous support of the Innovation Fund of the Dutch Relief Alliance.