Evaluation
CashCap is an inter-agency project, managed by NORCAP, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Expert Deployment capacity. CashCap has been deploying senior experts to provide multi-agency support with the aim of increasing the use and effectiveness of cash and markets programming in crisis contexts since 2016. CashCap experts build the capacity of their host agencies, national and local stakeholders and aim to contribute to bridging gaps and improving the quality of cash transfer programming (CTP).
The review has been undertaken by an independent consultant and has focused on qualitative data collection and analysis through interviewing key stakeholders and reviewing relevant documentation.
Some of the main findings are:
- CashCap expert deployments have been highly relevant in order to address a variety of identified CTP-related needs at both country and global level
- The neutrality provided by CashCap experts is a critical element of the success of the deployments.
- Experts have proved to be able to meet requirements and brought high levels of essential expertise which have ensured their ability to fulfil often wide-ranging ToR objectives. One area where expertise is more limited is direct experience of cash coordination.
- CashCap secondments are focused within a common framework – provision of technical support; capacity building; establishment of effective cash coordination mechanisms. Although NORCAP has introduced a platform for knowledge exchange and information-sharing, this is not known and/or used by CashCap experts. There is no formal system through which CashCap experts are obliged to share tools/guidance developed during deployment.
- CashCap is currently the only credible mechanism that can be relied upon to provide multi-agency support to achieve the goals of facilitating planning, coordination and implementation of CTP across sectors.
- There have been some missed opportunities in terms of preparedness for deployments including lack of pre-deployment briefings from host agencies and an absence of information-sharing between roster members.
- CashCap ToR tend to be ambitious in nature making the meeting of deployment objectives within initial timeframes extremely difficult. Apart from qualitative assessments at the end of each expert's deployment, there is no formal system in place for measuring achievement of objectives.
- In spite of a number of factors which have made the achievement of objectives challenging, in many cases CashCap deployments have managed to contribute to outcomes which were not foreseen in the ToR.
- With no outcome measurement system in place it is difficult to highlight the outcomes of CashCap deployments. However, discussions held during this review highlight that the deployments have provided significant added value at both country and global levels in relation to increased coordination of CTP as well as improved knowledge and harmonisation of approach.
- Ensuring that CashCap experts are hosted by an agency that has significant current and future involvement with CTP and that for strategic roles and those with a coordination focus, experts are positioned close to those that have influence within the humanitarian system, such as the HCT, is a key contributing factor in terms of ability to meet deployment objectives.
- Sustainability of the work undertaken through CashCap deployments is hindered due to the ongoing lack of clarity in relation to cash coordination structures.