Life-saving, efficient and secure: humanitarian aid that gives refugees choices
Life-saving, efficient and secure: humanitarian aid that gives refugees choices
A family of Afghan asylum-seekers buys food at a grocery store in the Greek city of Tripoli in 2021, using financial support provided by UNHCR with EU funding.
Why does UNHCR put money in the hands of people forced to flee?
Possessing a small amount of money transforms the lives of people who have fled conflict and persecution, leaving everything they own behind. Survival funds help to pay for a roof over your head, to put food on the table, get access to health care and medicines, send your kids to school, and more.
In 2024, UNHCR delivered $656 million to 5.3 million people in over 100 countries – from Ukraine to Syria, Bangladesh to Sudan and Afghanistan, and beyond.
And it is highly effective. By placing the decision-making and spending power directly in the hands of recipients, it ensures that humanitarian assistance is responsive to the needs of the moment, adaptable and efficient. Letting refugees decide what they need most and giving them the means to buy it is not only the most efficient way of doing things but also gives them back a sense of dignity and control, instead of being entirely dependent on others. It therefore means they can stabilize their situation and start to rebuild.
Winter assistance in Ukraine
In the freezing depths of the Ukrainian winter, having the money to stay warm was literally a lifesaver for Anatolii and Valentyna. Their village, in the Sumy region, is less than 10km away from the Russian border.
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When war broke out, their children and grandchildren fled to Poland – but the two pensioners were determined to stay. Their modest pensions barely cover their basic needs. But a winter grant from UNHCR allowed them to buy enough firewood to heat their home for three months and a gas canister to fuel their cooker.
“For pensioners like us, this assistance means so much,” Anatolii said. “This is our home, and we are not leaving.”
How do you know the money is being spent efficiently and wisely?
Financial support is highly targeted. Eligibility is based on detailed assessments carried out by UNHCR staff to identify only the most vulnerable people, such as single mothers, older people and those with disabilities.
Our monitoring of how financial support was used reveals the most needed items in 2024, with 81 per cent of recipients of survival funds buying food. Other in-demand items and services included health care, rent, hygiene items and clothing.
Top spending areas based on % of households reporting the expenditure
Source: UNHCR Post-distribution Monitoring Report 2024
What’s more, direct financial support for refugees is rarely in the form of physical banknotes and coins. Most of the money that UNHCR distributes directly to refugees is via debit cards, vouchers, bank accounts and even blockchain (a small but ground-breaking form of support – we have delivered $4.6 million since December 2022 via this approach, mostly in Ukraine and Argentina, but we are also rolling it out in Afghanistan for returning refugees. For more on blockchain aid, see the box below.
That means we can track and trace the money. We follow spending patterns and the effect the money has on households, so we and our partners gather data on who is getting it, what they spend it on, and how it helps. All this information is rigorously collected, checked and shared with donor countries. In short, survival funding is secure, mostly digital, trackable and measurable.
Why not just give people the items they need?
Without doubt, amid the chaos of the early stages of a humanitarian emergency, with people fleeing in large numbers to wherever they can find safety and without any personal belongings, items such as tents and plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, mats, soap and buckets are vital. UNHCR prepares meticulously for these crises and responds at speed.
But these items inevitably involve storage, transport and distribution costs. Money does not: we estimate it is 35 per cent more cost efficient than in-kind support. Fees charged by financial service providers are between 1-3 per cent.
And our analysis shows that local markets and shops can provide almost everything required by those who receive survival funds, including in emergencies and remote locations.
Are key goods and services available in local shops and markets, according to recipients of survival funds
Source: UNHCR Post-distribution Monitoring Report 2024
What about communities who host refugees? How do they benefit?
Local economies also gain. When people who have fled their homes are in charge of their own spending, the communities hosting them have a bigger market for their products and services. These days, refugee camps are the exception: almost 80 per cent of refugees and those displaced within their own country live in towns and cities – places with shops, businesses, housing, clinics and hospitals. The economic boost also makes locals more likely to see refugees as a benefit, not a burden, which fosters positive relations between the two communities.
There are plenty of studies showing the economic benefits brought by refugees. Far from being a burden, new arrivals – who bring knowledge, skills and experience – can bring a measurable boost.
Getting help via the blockchain
Blockchain technology allows money to be transferred quickly and securely without the need for a bank account. It works like a digital ledger, recording each payment in a “block” that can be tracked. Once recorded, the information cannot be changed or erased.
As part of its drive for innovation and efficiency, UNHCR has been exploring blockchain to deliver aid. It reduces the risk of corruption and fraud, makes funds easy to trace, and cuts out banking and intermediary fees. It is also a practical solution in emergencies or anywhere with little or no banking services available. The funds are stored in a digital wallet (such as Vibrant, which works with the Stellar blockchain network), and can be used to make digital purchases or converted to physical money via a payments and money-transfer company such as MoneyGram. Only the wallet owner can access the funds.
To access blockchain-based aid, refugees typically need a smartphone, a digital wallet app, and internet access. In some settings, a different approach is taken: a prepaid card holds a digital token representing a set amount of money. Users can withdraw money from ATMs or make purchases at approved stores. UNHCR uses this model in Afghanistan, in partnership with local provider HesabPay, built on the Algorand blockchain.
What happens if the funds run out?
The consequences can be dire, and the effects of the current humanitarian funding shortfall are already being felt. Without enough money, people who have fled home and find themselves without a way to support themselves are more likely to buy less or cheaper food, move to poorer quality accommodation, take children out of school, borrow money and rack up debt.
But being in school not only educates children, it also protects them from child labour, early marriage and predatory adults. Poor quality housing means overcrowding or unsanitary conditions. Poorer diets have well-known effects on health. High levels of debt are hard to pay off and are stressful to live with. In the most desperate cases, people could resort to harmful or risky activity such as illegal work or seek help from exploitative criminal or extremist groups.
Financial support from UNHCR has helped the parents of Venezuelan refugee Eleangel José Roca Trias, 14, keep him in school in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Being able to receive financial support also means people who have fled once are not forced to keep moving in search of help and opportunities, thus stabilizing refugee populations. For example, 96 per cent of refugees surveyed said their living conditions improved as a result of this form of aid, and across the board, respondents said that it allowed them to invest in their children’s futures by providing a healthier and more varied diet, paying for better shelter and investing in their health and education.
Having a reliable source of income from a reputable organization such as UNHCR might not meet all a family’s needs...
Ability to meet basic needs, per % of households
Source: UNHCR Post-distribution Monitoring Report 2024
…but for millions who have lost everything and have nowhere else to turn, it can mean the difference between survival and destitution. Should survival funds dry up thanks to cuts in aid, these statistics will start to look grim.
