GiveDirectly

Provision of Cash Transfers for Urban Poor People Living in Informal Settlements in Response to COVID-19

Project disclaimer

Disclaimer: The data for this page has been produced from IATI data published by GiveDirectly. Please contact them (Show Email Address) if you have any questions about their data.

Description

The project provides emergency cash relief to vulnerable people in urban and peri-urban areas of Kenya suffering severe hardship as a result of COVID-19. This is based on work GiveDirectly launched early in 2020 (an inclusive, remote, emergency cash assistance response program where recipients were targeted through partnerships with trusted CBOs). The project provides each recipient with 3,000 KES (~£22) per month for four months. This transfer size was designed to enable recipients to avoid the worst economic consequences of COVID-19, while enabling the program to reach as many vulnerable households as possible.

Target Groups

The project targets recipients living in the very poorest communities in urban slums in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. In Nairobi this is likely to include: ~32,700. In Mombasa this is likely to include: ~10,000. In Kisumu this is likely to include: ~10,000. The rationale for the targeted areas is that they are among the poorest areas, with a high density of slum dwellers. While absolute poverty rates are generally lower in Nairobi than elsewhere in Kenya, emerging evidence (ILO, WEIGO, WFP) highlights that informal urban workers are highly vulnerable to the economic impacts of COVID-19, and a high proportion of informal settlement / urban slum residents are therefore likely to be highly vulnerable. Recipients were identified through lists of particular groups of vulnerable individuals provided by partner NGOs or CBOs. Potential recipients had to be affiliated (members, patients) with organizations that work in identified slum areas and concentrate their work on vulnerable communities.

Objectives

The primary objective of this program is to deliver emergency support to as many of the most vulnerable as possible, as quickly as possible. Real time monitoring and evaluation of operational performance is critical to success and ability to scale quickly and responsibly. GiveDirectly is conducting follow up surveys with 100% of recipients, in order to ensure that funds have been received safely and are not triggering any adverse events (theft, community or household tension etc). Should recipients fail to respond to these SMSs, GiveDirectly is then calling to confirm instead. Additionally, GiveDirectly is conducting more extensive follow up calls with ~100 recipients each week. In addition to ensuring that funds have been received and are not causing adverse events, these in-depth follow up calls check in on recipient experience of the program, comprehension of program parameters, and ask monitoring and evaluation questions around how recipients have been impacted by COVID-19 and more.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Kenya

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