In 2021, UNHCR responded to the basic needs of people of concern through both cash assistance and in-kind modalities, mainly hygiene kits and clothing distributed at border areas.
In this sense, UNHCR assisted 47,043 individuals through either: 1) multipurpose cash grants (MPG) with 3 monthly payment installments for the most vulnerable individuals targeted through a combined protection and socio-economic scorecard; or, 2) a one-off cash assistance grant for individuals with high protection risks in response to specific needs.
Within the Venezuela situation, a total of 7,811 households received MPG, reaching 25,443 individuals. Of this group, for 292 households (980 individuals) the MPG for basic needs was a component of a comprehensive education response, where the cash contributed for school enrollment and/or supported children to remain in school. In addition, 8,390 individuals were supported with cash for specific needs.
Needs remain extremely high among the displaced population. As per UNHCR’s PDM conducted in 2021, 88% of households use negative coping strategies and 50% of households can meet only half or less of their basic needs. Many households resort to negative coping mechanisms, like skipping rental payments (resulting in the risk of eviction – 45%), taking loans (30%), moving to poorer shelters (30%), and/or selling productive assets (29%), indicating that needs may even increase in the short term. A very high proportion (54%) also resort to begging, indicating a concerning protection situation. Cash assistance is used to meet immediate basic needs with the main expenditure categories including rent (86%), food (72%), hygiene (34%), public services (32%), health (31%), and household items (23%).
Despite the on-going needs, cash has had tangible positive outcomes on the well-being of the beneficiaries. 92% of the interviewed households indicated that their living conditions improved significantly or moderately, and 87% indicated significantly or moderately reduced feelings of stress.
To maximize the impact of the response through a more efficient response system, UNHCR strengthened its collaboration with WFP and UNICEF within the UN Common Cash Statement (UNCCS). Ecuador is one of the global pilots for the UNCCS, signed globally in 2018 by UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF and OCHA, which establishes a framework for delivery of cash-based interventions for displaced populations. Among main results are the common referral pathway, to reinforce complementarity of assistance, and the use of one registration system for all agencies (UNCHR ProGres V4) to prevent duplication and facilitate the identification of people by the different UN agencies.
In parallel to the UNCSS, UNHCR has a key role in coordination and technical support within the Cash Working Group, leading MEB and transfer value, one of the technical priorities identified by the group.
In addition to cash assistance, and to meet the basic needs of Venezuelans arriving in Ecuador in difficult conditions, UNHCR distributed 43,593 hygiene and NFI kits to people of concern to support basic needs and mitigate their vulnerable conditions. These NFI items were distributed by Field Offices and Implementing Partners in strategic points throughout the country, like borders and transit points.