As a response to COVID-19, UNHCR has since the start of the pandemic launched multiple new cash grants and expanded existing programs. UNHCR's cash assistance complements governments' efforts by contributing with an additional safety net for vulnerable refugees and others left behind. UNHCR uses Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM) as a mechanism to collect refugees' feedback on the quality, sufficiency, utilization and effectiveness of the assistance items they receive. In order to ensure that the cash assistance provided meets the intended programme objectives and that desired outcomes are achieved, UNHCR conducts regular post-distribution and outcome monitoring with a sample or all of the recipients.
The COVID-19 CBI PDM Household Survey was conducted in Malaysia between August to September 2021. In Malaysia, UNHCR provided urgent cash assistance to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, which hit especially urban refugees hard. Some 80 percent of the cash recipients experienced loss of income during the movement control order in Malaysia. Despite the overall positive impact of cash assistance, 80 percent of the households resorted to negative coping strategies to meet basic needs, highlighting that the unmet needs are vast despite assistance.