Review of Cash Coordination in Ukraine

Ukraine is a lower middle-income country in Eastern Europe, with a strong soviet era legacy in the field of social protection. Since early 2014, Ukraine has been affected by conflict in its eastern part, which led to the internal displacement of more than 1.4 million people. At the time this paper was written, a large share of the IDPs was not intending to return to the place of origin, which was not under the control of government forces. Because of a combination of factors, including the conflict in the east, the economy of Ukraine contracted in 2014, and continues to do so in 2015. Ukraine’s
public finances remain under pressure due to large accumulated imbalances that are compounded by the economic contraction. The situation of public finances affects in turn the way public services, including social protection, are delivered to citizens, both displaced and non-displaced.

The need for a technical Cash Working Group (CWG) was expressed by humanitarian partners from the early stages of the crisis, to support the different clusters using cash based interventions. DfID seconded to OCHA a Cash Transfer Expert / Coordinator at the end of April 2015, which enabled the Cash Working Group to start regular meetings. Prior to this and to the activation of the cluster system, the CWG existed and effectively functioned in the autumn of 2014 under the leadership of international NGOs with substantial experience in cash-based interventions, such as Save the
Children and DRC. From December 2014 to April 2015, humanitarian cash actors in Ukraine had met on an ad-hoc basis, when it was required to make collective decisions on various aspects related to cash-based interventions such as attempts at harmonizing multi-purpose cash transfer values.