In late March 2020, the Cash Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Organizational Network (CAMEALEON) conducted a rapid phone survey on the impact of Covid-19 and the economic crisis on Syrian refugees receiving multi-purpose cash (MPC) in Lebanon. The main purpose was to understand the impact of Covid-19 on MPC recipients, focusing particularly on households’ ability to access and spend their cash assistance.
A second survey, following 80 per cent of the same household sample, was conducted in April 2020 and will be published soon. The March survey findings suggest that the early phase of the Covid-19 outbreak changed households spending patterns, with families buying more hygiene items as far as they can afford them, at the expense of taking out additional debt and reducing other expenditures related to basic needs. This is in a context of reduced access to livelihood opportunities after the protests and due to the economic crisis as well as travel restrictions, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. MPC recipients also reported concerns about their ability to access to ATMs, the liquidity of ATMs, and the risk of infection to themselves and their families.
Established in late 2017, CAMEALEON is an NGO-led network co-managed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Solidarités International. CAMEALEON’s mandate is to conduct independent MEAL, research and analysis in support of the WFP MPC programme as well as to contribute to wider sectoral learning on humanitarian cash assistance.
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