Since the onset of the Syrian crisis, the humanitarian community has increasingly relied on cash-based assistance provided from donor contributions and implemented by aid partners under the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan to support the affected population. In November 2017, the World Food Programme (WFP) joined the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organisations (NGO) in the delivery of multi-purpose cash (MPC) to assist the most economically vulnerable Syrian refugee households to meet their basic needs. WFP provided a monthly unconditional and unrestricted transfer of $27 per person per month and a top-up of $173.50 to Syrian refugee households to stabilise or improve access to food and basic needs over a 12-month cycle.
In 2018-2020, CAMEALEON, in collaboration with the American University of Beirut (AUB), conducted an impact assessment of the MPC assistance. Using a sample of 11,457 households (one of the largest sample sizes used for impact evaluations in Lebanon) in Bekaa, North and Mount Lebanon, the two-year study found that most of the impact of MPC materializes in the long term (over 12 months), while limited impact materializes in the short term. The study also found that impact of MPC fades within 4-10 months after discontinuation from assistance and the household’s well-being returns to its pre-assistance levels.
Established in late 2017, CAMEALEON is a NGO-led network co-managed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Solidarités International. CAMEALEON conducts independent MEAL, research and analysis in support of the WFP MPC programme as well as to contribute to wider sectoral learning on humanitarian cash assistance. The research was conceptualized and conducted with support from the WFP MPC Steering Committee and UNHCR, and aims to address the globally recognized gap in evidence on the multi-sectoral impacts of MPC.
Watch the webinar on “Impact assessment of multi-purpose cash assistance (MPC) for Syrian refugees in Lebanon” here: https://vimeo.com/430499826.
