Executive Summary: Taking Stock of Cash and Voucher Assistance to Achieve Protection Outcomes in the Protection Sector in Humanitarian Settings

Protection in humanitarian action is about helping people stay safe, reduce the risk of and recover from the harm posed by violence, coercion, deliberate deprivation and abuse perpetrated against them. Protection activities seek to keep people safe, addressing immediate protection concerns, as well as preventing or reducing protection risks. Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) refers to all humanitarian programming where cash transfers or vouchers are given directly to individuals, households, or community recipients so they can buy goods in the local market and access services. While “protection cash” or “cash for protection” and “the use of cash and voucher assistance to help achieve protection outcomes” are terms increasingly used among humanitarian practitioners, there is still a lack of common understanding around these concepts, as well as an absence of a common policy and operational framework.