Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and the case for building an emergency cash transfer program in the Philippines

Thomas Vaughan Bowen and Thomas Vaughan Bowen

No 119393, Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes from The World Bank

Abstract: This note focuses on the way in which the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) conditionalcash transfer (CCT) program and the national household targeting system for poverty reduction,Listahanan, were used by DSWD, and leveraged by humanitarian agencies, in response to super-Typhoon Yolanda (November, 2013). Based on this experience, and keeping in mind that the 4Psprogram is not designed to respond to disasters, the note makes the case for the utility of building a separate, emergency cash transfer (ECT) program that is capable of delivering an immediate and much broader cash transfer response in the event of future large-scale disasters. An explicitly disaster responsive, unconditional cash transfer program could reach a larger share of affected households than is currently possible, with grants of increased value reflecting acute need and in a timely, coordinated and transparent fashion. For beneficiaries, the provision of cash once initial life-saving needs have been met can increase agency and promote faster recovery, enabling repairs to homes, assets and a faster resumption of livelihoods. For DSWD, such a program could also help to reduce its substantial institutional burden to deliver in-kind assistance, the delivery of which is often logistically more difficult and costly than cash based assistance.

Keywords: Economic Assistance; Disability; Services&Transfers to Poor; Access of Poor to Social Services; Natural Disasters; Social Protections&Assistance; Inequality; Disaster Management; Social Risk Management; Hazard Risk Management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-06-01
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:119393

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