Operationalizing Emergency MPCA: Learning from the Ramadi Displacement, May to July 2015

A revision to the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in June 2015 created a separate chapter for emergency multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA). The MPCA strategy as agreed on with the Cash Working Group in Iraq (CwG) consisted of a sequential response: a first line one-off emergency MPCA to reach newly displaced households, followed by a second line multi-month assistance to reach conflict affected vulnerable households. In May and June 2015, DRC and NRC, along with ECHO Cash Alliance Partners and the Cash Consortium of Iraq (CCI) piloted the emergency MPCA in Baghdad. This pilot was launched in response to a large scale displacement of households from Anbar from military operations in April 2015. The pilot tests the speed and efficacy of the MPCA strategy as outlined within the June 2015 HRP, and used the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) as a key source to identify newly displaced households.

This report focuses on the operational effectiveness of emergency MPCA. Partners present key recommendations from an evolved understanding of vulnerability, effective targeting, co-ordination, and potential exit pathways from a humanitarian response to the government.