Impact Evaluation of the ADN Dignidad Program: Understanding the impact of a Humanitarian Cash Transfer (HCT) program in Colombia

The Venezuelan humanitarian crisis represents one of the largest displacement crises in the world, on the order of 6.1 million people (UNHCR 2022a). Colombia currently hosts more than 1.82 million Venezuelans, 60 percent of whom are in irregular situations that prevent them from accessing public services, putting a strain on the Government of Colombia’s (GOC’s) capacity to deliver essential social and legal assistance (UNHCR 2022a). Venezuelan migrants and Colombian returnees arriving in Colombia are generally poor and have few coping strategies at their disposal to support their integration. This is particularly the case in the poor neighborhoods that host mixed migrants, with increasingly greater competition for scarce resources and opportunities within receptor communities.

Understanding how to effectively support these displaced populations has become imperative. To this effect, cash transfers are well established as an effective development tool. However, little is known about their effectiveness in aiding the displaced population in the context of the Venezuelan crisis. This study contributes to filling this gap, answering critical questions about the effectiveness of unconditional cash transfers for improving the lives of displaced individuals and their households.

This report presents the results of the impact evaluation of ADN Dignidad. The ADN Dignidad Program is implemented by the Cash for Urban Assistance (CUA) Consortium, led by Acción Contra el Hambre in partnership with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council ( NRC), with funding from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). The program aims to improve access to basic food, non-food items, and shelter through the provision of up to 6 months of unconditional multipurpose cash assistance (MPCA) transfers of approximately $100 USD per recipient household per month ($34 USD/person per month, or $206 USD/person over 6 months) to approximately 220,000 crisis-affected individuals. To leverage the impact of the MPCA, the project integrates targeted messaging aimed at maximizing the nutritional impact of the MPCA transfers. The program also strives to improve the overall protective environment for target groups by increasing their awareness of locally available and legally accessible social protection (education, health, social protection, etc.) and legal services