"We have lost everything including the houses, barns, and grains...we are jobless and there is no opportunity for daily income. We will use the cash for our healthcare.”
- Civilian whose home was burned during armed conflict in Chin.
Since 2021, cash and voucher assistance and multi-purpose cash have become tangible ways to reach the expanding number of vulnerable people with low funding. Programming cash for basic needs has allowed for cost savings while maintaining tight monitoring and minimizing the likelihood of theft by reducing points of contact in the delivery process and ensuring direct delivery to the affected people.
% of assessed households that reported being able to meet their basic needs financially


Needs
Most of the households assessed in 2024 faced challenges in meeting all or most of their basic needs despite reporting robust market access. In many parts of the country households report a median monthly income of up to 300,000 Myanmar kyat ($93) to support an average of four people, which calculates at about $0.70 per person per day, placing them alarmingly below the absolute poverty line of $2.15 per person per day. As the conflict and disasters continue to affect more people, basic needs are expected to grow in 2025.
Response
The Cash and Markets Working Group recommends the use of multi-purpose cash. Apart from securing people’s dignity and choice, it allows for flexibility in the ever-changing environment, portability for people on the move and cost savings, as it is cost effective to respond to multiple needs at once. Sectoral cash and voucher assistance also has significant benefits for the above reasons and is reflective of people’s preferences. In 2024, the Cash and Markets Working Group issued an updated Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) and a multi-purpose cash guidance note to help partners deliver quality cash programming safely and responsibly.
Monitoring
Global evidence shows that cash assistance is not riskier than other forms of aid and can often be monitored more effectively. Risks in humanitarian programmes are context- rather than modality-specific. Cash assistance is systematically observed through post-distribution monitoring allowing for a consistent flow of information about its use and utility. Research shows that cash transfers are more likely to reach intended recipients than other forms of aid because fewer intermediaries are used in the process.