Cash and Voucher Assistance in Asia and the Pacific

UNFPA Asia Pacific has successfully integrated Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) in its programmes, recognizing that it can directly contribute to the Three Transformative Results it is committed to achieving by 2030: zero unmet need for contraception; zero preventable maternal deaths; and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices, and that it can bring benefits to the people it serves across the Asia Pacific region.

In the last year, UNFPA has used CVA to achieve the following:

	We reached 90,000 women, girls & other key individuals US$3.0 million delivered in cash & voucher transfers 10 CVA active countries CVA used in 73 projects, for multiplied impact
Integrated in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programming, including family planning and provision of menstrual health and dignity items. Targeting women, girls and key populations such as people living with HIV, sex workers, and members of the LGBTQI+ community CVA as a critical tool used across anticipatory action projects, sudden-onset emergency responses, and in nexus programming
	CVA delivered through mobile and bank transfers, directly in hands or through vouchers using blockchain technology 98.5% cash, 1.5% vouchers 150 UNFPA staff and 150 staff from implementing partners, civil society organizations and government partners received capacity building in the past year
UNFPA innovation awards: won by the Philippines in 2021 for their cash in GBV case management, and by Bangladesh and Myanmar in 2022 for their CVA for menstrual health and hygiene, and by Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam in 2023 for their CVA in SRH programming There was a panel presentation about cash assistance in SRH programming in the Philippines at the International Conference on Maternal and Newborn Health in Cape Town in May 2023

2023 UNFPA Asia Pacific CVA brief

2022 UNFPA Asia Pacific CVA brief

PHOTO STORY: By offering more choice, cash and vouchers can be more inclusive than other forms of support and contribute to women and girls’ empowerment, transforming gender dynamics.

This collection of stories showcases some of the ways UNFPA is expanding the use of cash and vouchers in our programming and profiles some of the people involved from design to implementation. READ MORE

Sri Lanka: Babyshanti lives in the tea estates in Nuwara Eliya. She received a cash grant during the economic crisis that engulfed the country in 2022. She used the money to buy medicine for her mother who is unwell and it helped her through the challenging times as the country recovers from the crisis.

CVA in Sexual and Reproductive Health programming

Philippines: As part of the humanitarian response to the internal conflict in the Lanao del Sur province, UNFPA Philippines implemented cash assistance as an incentive for pregnant women to access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. UNFPA and partners encouraged pregnant women to access antenatal care, facility-based delivery and post-natal care through a cash incentive and by having pregnant women partner with a traditional birth attendant. The project increased the number of women attending a first antenatal care visit from 31% to 96% and a first postnatal care visit from 38% to 87%, compared to the number of women using these services prior to the introduction of the cash assistance. UNFPA continues to provide cash for pregnant women in the Philippines, including in response to recent natural disasters, to ensure that women can access the health care they need to have a safe birth without financial barriers. ©UNFPA Philippines — **Philippines:** As part of the humanitarian response to the internal conflict in the Lanao del Sur province, UNFPA Philippines implemented cash assistance as an incentive for pregnant women to access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. UNFPA and partners encouraged pregnant women to access antenatal care, facility-based delivery and post-natal care through a cash incentive and by having pregnant women partner with a traditional birth attendant. The project increased the number of women attending a first antenatal care visit from 31% to 96% and a first postnatal care visit from 38% to 87%, compared to the number of women using these services prior to the introduction of the cash assistance. UNFPA continues to provide cash for pregnant women in the Philippines, including in response to recent natural disasters, to ensure that women can access the health care they need to have a safe birth without financial barriers. ©UNFPA Philippines

UNFPA-Johns Hopkins University study, Cash to increase facility-based deliveries in the Philippines, May 2023 & launch webinar recording
UNFPA Indonesia, Report on Cash assistance as part of programming support to people living with HIV, 2023.
UNFPA Afghanistan, Enhancing autonomy and decision-making: Cash assistance for women’s health and wellbeing in post-earthquake Herat, July 2024

UNFPA Sri Lanka, UNFPA's Cash assistance initiative amidst Sri Lanka's socio-economic crisis, December 2023

CVA for Menstrual Health and Hygiene

“I get extra thick sanitary pad packs and the thin ones. It is my will”

-female recipients when asked why she was choosing a combination of different menstrual products at her nearby shop in the slums, Bangladesh

Bangladesh case study: Using cash and voucher assistance to improve menstrual health and hygiene

Cash in GBV Case Management

Philippines case study, Cash for GBV survivors, June 2022
UNFPA-Johns Hopkins University study, Cash assistance for GBV survivors in GBV case management in Indonesia, November 2023 & launch webinar recording.
Webinar recording: Women and girls chose: cash assistance in GBV case management, February 2022.

“I am still fearful of what happened to me. I think about it every day.

But now that I am less stressed about money, it comes back less strong”

- GBV survivor cash recipient in the Philippines

CVA for dignity items

At the end of 2023 and in 2024, UNFPA Bangladesh implemented cash assistance for dignity items, benefiting vulnerable women and transgender individuals in the southern region of Bangladesh in the Bandarban district, Chattogram division. This area had been affected by flooding, resulting in loss of livelihoods and increased economic vulnerability. Each recipient received USD 29, calculated based on the cost of dignity items in the local market of the affected area. Post-distribution monitoring indicated that women who received the cash felt a sense of relief and dignity, appreciating the autonomy it afforded them to independently decide how to use it.

Cash assistance for the purchase of dignity items in emergencies: a Bangladesh case study

Anticipatory action

CVA can be used to support vulnerable women and adolescent girls before predictable crises occur, based on triggers.

UNFPA Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines have included cash assistance as part of the collective anticipatory action facilitated by UN OCHA. Asia-Pacific Regional Cash Working Group (RCWG) and the Asia-Pacific Technical Working Group on Anticipatory Action (TWGAA) papers for which UNFPA was part of the review committee: Anticipatory action and cash transfers for rapid-onset hazards: Practitioners’ note for field testing, January 2023 & the Anticipatory action and cash transfers for slow-onset hazards: Practitioners’ note for field testing, May 2024.

Key global resources developed with the experience of UNFPA in Asia Pacific

How to design and set-up cash assistance in GBV case management, February 2023 & launch webinar recording.
UNFPA Asia Pacific hosted a 3-day face-to-face training in Bangkok in March 2023 for a cohort of 27 UNFPA participants coming from 17 country offices from four regions (Asia Pacific, Arab States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe/Central Asia).
GBV risk mitigation in Cash and Voucher Assistance toolkit, September 2022 & launch webinar recording.