KEY HIGHLIGHTS
1.8 million people assessed for cash assistance in 2018 so far.
Over 6,000 referrals to protection services from cash assesments in April.
438,000 individuals reached in April 2018, with USD 10.8 million distributed; USD 44.6 million distributed so far in 2018.
USD 116 million urgently required for cash assistance to 87,000 Syrian refugee families (435,000 individuals) from June.
HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS THE REGION
Communication in Jordan
Since 2014, UNHCR has provided refugees in Jordan with their own dedicated UNHCR SIM card which enables them to call the refugee Helpline for free and to receive UNHCR messages. A total of 73,755 families in Jordan currently hold a UNHCR SIM card and In April alone more than 41,500 SMS’s were sent to persons of concern relating to cash based interventions, including home visit verification, appeals, and cash delivery.
The UNHCR Jordan refugee helpline serves as a two way communication channel to address the questions, needs and concerns of more than 650,000 refugees living in Jordan. It not only accepts phone calls, but also provides outgoing messaging. Since its inception in 2008, staff have dealt with over 1.7 million calls but thanks to a 2017 system upgrade, UNHCR is now able to handle nearly 150,000 calls per month, almost six times as much as previously.
Improved processes in Iraq
UNHCR Iraq provides up to three months multi-purpose cash assistance to Syrian refugees, non-Syrian refugees, and IDPs (the largest portion of the caseload given that there are still over 2 million IDPs in Iraq since 2014). Since 2017, mobile money solutions have been used as the preferred modality for delivery of cash assistance across Iraq. This flexible option allows access to vulnerable families in difficult to reach areas, quickly and efficiently. UNHCR is also in the process of strengthening post distribution monitoring (PDM) systems in order to get a better understanding of the impact of cash assistance on the lives of beneficiaries while UNHCR is also planning to integrate biometrics into Mobile-Money-based cash disbursement in Iraq, initially at registration level and then for cash out. UNHCR and WFP have undertaken the Joint Vulnerability Assessment (JVA) in 2017 and have, in early 2018, initiated analysis and review of the results which will lead to the development of a new eligibility formula for targeting of food assistance recipients in refugee camps.
Raising awareness about Lebanon’s Targeting model
In Lebanon, UNHCR and WFP are co-managing a common call center, aiming to respond to all refugee queries, complaints and updates related to cash programmes delivered through the common card. During peak periods, the call center has the capacity to easily increase/decrease the number of phone operators at short notice. The call centre also deals with non-cash related queries and in this respect is an outlet for complaints and protection referrals to UNHCR and other agencies if. Having the capacity to audio record all calls, emergency protection and health referrals are followed up by consent agencies. From 1 July, the current WFP/UNHCR call center and the UNICEF cash hotline will be merged, launching the LOUISE call center. LOUISE is a joint initiative by UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, Save the Children and World Vision which streamlines humanitarian cash assistance for socio-economically disadvantaged Syrian refugees and Lebanese, based on their vulnerabilities.