The International Rescue Committee (IRC) implemented an anticipatory action cash-distribution pilot among six agro-pastoralist communities in Northeast Nigeria, focused on reducing the damaging effects of flooding. Prior to the flood season of 2022, the IRC set up an early warning system with local hydrometeorological agencies to trigger pre-flooding cash distribution to resource-constrained communities vulnerable to flooding. The program aimed to improve the adaptive capacities of these communities through improved systems for information sharing about climate risks and severity, and resource access to undertake mitigation measures. Researchers measured the cost-effectiveness of a pre-flooding cash distribution triggered by the early warning system, as compared to traditional post-shock resource disbursement. 1,450 households were randomly assigned to receive pre- or post-shock distributions. Low cost transfer ratios, in addition to positive impact evaluation results, suggest that the pre-shock modality may be more cost-effective than business-as-usual post-shock transfers. The Anticipatory Cash project cost $695 per household receiving pre-shock cash transfers, which drops to $610 per household without system set-up activities. 71% of total group costs went to the cash grant itself. Similar cost-transfer ratios between pre- and post-shock groups suggest that the anticipatory cash response is just as cost-efficient as the post-shock modality.

Mi-décembre 2022, l'International Rescue Committee a publié son rapport annuel Emergency Watchlist, identifiant les 20 pays du monde les plus à risque de faire face à une crise humanitaire grave ou à une détérioration d'une crise humanitaire en cours en 2023. Une fois de plus, notre méthodologie unique basée sur 67 indicateurs et des discussions avec des acteurs clés dans la région, a conclu que les situations dans 5 pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest sont très préoccupantes. Le Burkina Faso, le Mali, le Niger, le Nigeria, et le Tchad, sont des pays où les conflits, le changement climatique et les troubles économiques ont un impact sur la vie de millions de personnes et limitent leur accès à des services de santé, d'éducation et de protection de qualité, à la nourriture et parfois même à l'aide humanitaire. Ces pays ont besoin de l'attention du monde entier pour aider les populations déplacées et les populations d'accueil à survivre, à se rétablir et à reconstruire leur vie.

In partnership with the IKEA Foundation, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) launched Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (Re:Build) in 2021. The initiative targets 20,000 refugees and host community members to help them sustainably reach economic self-reliance and social cohesion. From 2022-2023, a three-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) tested the effectiveness of mentorship on economic well-being and social cohesion on 1,570 of the Re:Build clients. All clients received a cash grant to start or improve a small business, i.e., a micro-enterprise. The program paired one-third of the youth with experienced entrepreneurs who served as business mentors. Another third received business mentorship and engaged in perspective-sharing exercises to build trust and social cohesion. The Best Use of Resources (BUR) team measured the cost-effectiveness of improved economic outcomes among the treatment arms evaluated through the RCT. The cash-only treatment costs €731 per client, while mentorship treatment arms cost €1,133. Most expenses went to program supplies and activities for all treatment arms. In contrast, mentee support costs drove additional costs required for the mentorship treatment arms, which covered transport and mentor stipends. Of the total €1,623,629 spent on the project, 10% of the project costs went to HQ and internal cost recovery. Impact evaluation results for the randomized controlled trial will be available in May of 2024, at which time we will update this brief to complete the cost-effectiveness analysis results.