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Home , Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Sievierodonetsk, Sloviansk

Cash Working Group Meeting, Skype – , , , , 12 February 2021

Discussion Action points/Decisions

ACTED provided the briefing/refresher on the tasks and modality of the Cash Working Group (CWG). Since 2018, ACTED voluntarily co-facilitates the CWG and presents the findings of Joint Market Monitoring. Also, the relevance of the Multi-Purpose Cash (MPC) transfer amount is regularly discussed and reviewed at the CWG meetings.

1. Results on MPC in 2020 Q4 (by UNOCHA) ACTED to send the link to the • 7 partners were operational in terms of MPC in Q4 2020 – ACTED, Caritas , German Red Cross, IOM, People in Need, CWG Web-page on Polish Humanitarian Action, and Save the Children. humanitarianresponse.info and • Based on the information provided by partners, the total amount of MPC provided in total 2020 Q1 was 94,187,000 UAH. presentation with Q4 2020 achievements to the partners • 28,742 beneficiaries received assistance under the projects included in HRP and 32,456 outside of HRP, UAH 56,452,420 and UAH

37,734,580, respectively. The request for the participants had been shared for the cross-checking of the figures. • 65% cash grants had been distributed on the zone 0-5 along the contact line. • All information will be available in the form of interactive dashboards on the HR.info web platform with detailed information as per Cluster, partner, delivery mechanism, and modality after receiving confirmations from partners. 2. Partner updates on the MPC and other sectoral cash assistance programs • German Red Cross (GRC) implements MPC project in partnership with Ukrainian Red Cross Society ( oblast department) in 2021- 2022 since January 1, 2021. Beneficiaries to be covered in 2021 – Donetska oblast GCA, 650 beneficiaries, 1150 UAH/person/month, in 2022 – Donetska and Luhanska oblasts, GCA. Area of intervention in Donetska oblast: Volnovaskyi , municipality. By the end of 2021, all mentioned locations are supposed to receive assistance on the monthly basics (12 payments). Registration is ongoing now and will end at the end of February. GRC expressed willingness to cross-check beneficiaries with other partners. • IOM in 2020 started an MPC project related to the COVID-19 and had decided to continue it until the end of May 2021. The payment is 1200 UAH/person/month. Locations – only Luhanska oblast (Krymske, in Popasnyanskyi raion, , Katerynivka, Novozvanivka, Novotoshkivske, Orikhove and Artema). IOM has been planning to start a new MPC project in 2021 but doesn’t have details yet. • NRC is starting beneficiary registration for the new project to cover the basic needs of vulnerable people in the East due to COVID-19 in , , , and . The payment is 3450 UAH/household (HH) member, and payments will be made through Ukrposhta. Also, registration for the other activities funded by FFP (“Food for peace”) is taking place, the activity is a provision of cash for the agricultural inputs, with one payment of 80 USD for the HH. • ACTED implements several cash projects. At the end of 2020, ACTED provided winterization assistance to 1650 beneficiaries. Among them, the most vulnerable were considered to be provided with MPC assistance in January 2021. MPC assistance was provided in the next settlements: , Orlovske, Orikhove, Pobeda, Maksymillianivka, Viskryva, Oskolonivka, Praskiviivka, Heorgiivka, Hnutove. Additionally, it was another MPC project implemented in Teple, Krepy, Minchynok, Verhniy Minchynok, Kalynove-Popasna, the total number of beneficiaries is 950 individuals, the amount of assistance is 1150 UAH/month/individual with three months of assistance to be covered. It is supposed to start a new MPC project in Adviivka for 900 beneficiaries with three-month support.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | Ukraine Coordination Saves Lives | www.unocha.org

• PIN is going to finish MPC project covering appr.1700 beneficiaries in Toretsk municipality and Yasynuvatskyi rayon. The transfer amount is 1150 UAH/person/month. The project is ending in March-April 2021, final payments are being done now for Toretsk municipality. Another MPC project is starting with 400 individuals to be covered with 6 months of assistance, the amount of 1150 UAH/person/month, in Bakmutskyi and Popasnianskyi rayons.

• ASB informed they have sectoral cash assistance, it’s two-year long project providing cash for food and hygiene. The current caseload of

3450 beneficiaries, in 0-5 km zone along the contact line, is provided with 8 months of assistance from November 2020 to June 2021 with

amount of 1125 UAH/month/person. • Triangle has ongoing cash for work project for 40 beneficiaries. However, they plan for the second part of the 2021 to implement the project with the MPC component. • PAH is planning to implement the next round of MPC program at the end of March 2021 for 625 beneficiaries of 60+ years old, to be supported with 3450 UAH/person as of three-month assistance. Payment will be made through the Ukrposhta. • HelpAge is planning to implement new MPC project for the vulnerable aged people in Marinkyi, Pokrovskyi, Volnovaskyi . This project will cover 200 elderly people and 400 members of their HHs. • ICRC will continue cash assistance (blanket coverage) in Novooleksandrivka, Popasnyanskyi raion, MPC for the families of missing and families of detainees conflict-related in all Ukraine, including Donetska and Luhanska GCA. In 2021 they plan to start MPC for the

vulnerable IDPs in Luhanska oblast as well. The amount of the cash grant is 1200 UAH/person/month.

• Partners highlighted that humanitarian cash assistance is tax-exempted by the . • Partners discussed financial service providers preferred by beneficiaries to receive cash assistance. 3. Joint Market Monitoring findings ACTED to share the presentation • All data is available online on the dashboard with key findings of Joint Market • Data collection was conducted in August-September 2020 to assess the market situation on the ground. Monitoring conducted in • Geographic coverage – both within 5 km zone and outside of 5 km zone, market sub-centers, semi-periphery, periphery, GCA, and NGCA. August-September 2020 • 37 locations in Donetska and Luhanska oblast GCA (surveys with 71 traders and 148 with costumers). • This round of monitoring was done with some traders surveyed in person (only food and hygiene sectors were included), most traders and customers surveyed by phone. • The most common issues for customers in accessing markets are similar to previous rounds: high prices come first and are the only significant obstacle in sub-centers, while assortment follows in peripheries and semi-peripheries. • Transportation is a significant issue in peripheral locations with a noticeable increase compared to the August 2019 MM round, while safety concerns are still low the board. • Recent food price trends showed annual price stability (-1% change compared to August 2019 despite significant seasonal fluctuation and those observed in April 2020 (onset of COVID-19 restrictions). • The average annual price range for hygiene items from August 2019 to August 2020 was at +3.5%. • In line with previous years, warm clothes remained a highly unavailable good in peripheral locations. However, The total unavailability of warm clothes in peripheries had decreased from 47% in August 2018 to 35% in August 2019, but it was back up to 44% in August 2020 while the frequency of partial availability was just as high as in August 2019 (50%): this lead to a general degradation of the access to clothes in peripheries.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Coordination Saves Lives | www.unocha.org

• Average prices for coal have been on the rise ever since 2017 and the beginning of this Joint Market Monitoring. The average price for firewood reached an all-time high in the August 2020 MM round. • In the August 2020 MM round, construction materials were widely available in sub-centers and semi-peripheries, in line with previous years: 100% of customers reported full availability in sub-centers in the August 2020 MM round and 84% in semi-peripheries, in slight decrease compared to the previous years yet still fairly high. However, in peripheral locations answer indicated a steady degradation of the access to materials ever since August 2017, with an all-time low – only 15% of respondents reported full availability of the resource, down from 38% in the August 2019 round. • The annual increase is lowest in semi-peripheries (+7.1%) where it is driven by wheat (+18%), followed by sub-centers (+12.2%) driven by chicken feed (+25.1%) and urea (+11.5%). In peripheries, the price increase was the steepest (+32.6%), mainly due to the soaring price of chicken feeds in those locations (+41.6%), although not all peripheral locations suffered from this increase. • The availability of medication in peripheral locations has been steadily deteriorating since 2017, from 67% of respondents reporting full availability down to just 21% this year. • Prices for medicine in the periphery were 5.3% higher than the overall average, semi-peripheries exhibited almost average price level (- 0.7%) while sub-centers demonstrated below-average prices for the medication (-4.5%) in the August 2020 MM round. • Impact of humanitarian assistance (GCA). Consumers reported a small impact of humanitarian assistance on the market. Retailers, however, were much more likely to report that humanitarian assistance did have an impact on the market. • ·Cash assistance was often seen as positive (reported by 79% of traders), while in-kind assistance was heavily associated with a negative impact (reported by 88% of traders). 82% of all the negative impact reported is due to in-kind assistance. • 4. Cash transfer value • Partners have agreed not to change the current cash transfer value and discuss it during the next CWG.

Contacts:

Ms. Nataliya Chervinska, ACTED Country Projects Coordinator phone: +380 50 470 61 74, e-mail: [email protected]

Ms. Darya Sagaydak Information Management Officer, OCHA, Kramatorsk phone: +380 50 309 57 52, e-mail: [email protected]

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Coordination Saves Lives | www.unocha.org