Challenges and Opportunities in the Cash and Voucher Assistance Landscape in Nigeria
Challenges and Opportunities in the Cash and Voucher Assistance Landscape in Nigeria
As the humanitarian landscape has been changing over the past several years, it is now widely accepted that providing crisis-affected populations with Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) is an efficient, effective, and dignified way of responding to humanitarian crises, enabling people affected by natural and man-made disasters to take agency in covering their needs, recovering from shocks, and in building resilience. Concurrently, CVA is strengthening local economy, creating multiplier effects. Against this backdrop, adoption of CVA in Nigeria has seen a steady rise since its early uses in 2013. While in 2016’s Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), CVA represented only six percent of the related funding, in 2021 it grew to 56%. Concurrently, all CVA actors surveyed as part of the study declared that they can further scale their CVA programming. The present report, composed based on the evidence collected during an extensive qualitative and quantitative data collection exercise conducted by the consulting team and CWG in the lead up to the ratification of the NCVAP, presents the snapshot of the CVA landscape as of August 2023, outlining identified challenges, opportunities, recommendations, and related policy measures offered by the NCVAP. The snapshot can serve as a benchmark for future reference to ensure accountability in the operationalisation of the NCVAP and overcoming identified challenges.