Using Hawala to conduct cash programming in Syria

The Syrian crisis has seen an expansion of cash programming, with this form of assistance being used for both emergency response as well as the establishment of medium-term resilience initiatives. Opposition-controlled areas often have no formal banking structure or transfer alternative, so the international community is using money transfer companies commonly known as hawala.

While many countries employ hawala, including Somalia and Afghanistan, the Syrian context is solely dependent on it in order to transfer humanitarian response funds. Humanitarian agencies operating directly in-country, or through partners, use hawala to transfer operational funds as well as cash for programme activities. Hawala networks have become essential for an effective humanitarian response.

CARE has been using hawala to support its cash-based programming across South and North Syria. The purpose of this paper is to share its experience working with hawala in order to support the wider humanitarian community.