Most refugees live in environments where they have access to markets and services in the same way that local communities do. Providing refugees with cash enables them to fulfil their needs in a dignified manner and contributes to the local economy. UNHCR uses cash-based interventions (CBI) to provide protection, assistance, and services to the most vulnerable. Cash and vouchers help the displaced meet a variety of needs, including access to food, water, healthcare, shelter, that allow them to build and support livelihoods, and to facilitate voluntary repatriation.
Refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and other vulnerable populations receive cash assistance through collaborative cash systems in which UNHCR works in close partnership with governments, the private sector, UN agencies, community-based and local partners and development actors.
UNHCR started a corporate Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM) process to review the use and effectiveness of cash assistance provided by UNHCR and its partners. PDM semi-standardized questionnaires assess the adequacy of cash programmes, and results inform programme changes at the country level in order to improve CBI design and delivery.