This Guidance Note is also available in Arabic, French and Spanish. 

Humanitarian actors have made considerable progress in promoting data responsibility in cash and voucher assistance (CVA) in recent years. However, gaps remain between global frameworks for data responsibility and their practical application in the delivery of CVA. The Centre has developed a Guidance Note on Data Responsibility in Cash and Voucher Assistance in collaboration with CaLP and NORCAP/Norwegian Refugee Council to help fill these gaps.

The note offers an overview of the common data-related benefits and risks encountered by cash actors. It also provides a set of actions that organisations can take to improve data responsibility in the delivery of cash and voucher assistance:

  • Map the CVA data ecosystem
  • Establish an information sharing protocol specific to CVA programmes
  • Establish data sharing agreements for the exchange of personal data
  • Conduct data impact assessments for all CVA interventions
  • Introduce data incident management procedures
  • Track issues and progress on data responsibility in CVA through coordination structures

The note is the sixth in a series of eight guidance notes on Data Responsibility in Humanitarian Action, which are being published over the course of 2019 and 2020. Through the series, the Centre aims to provide additional guidance on specific issues, processes and tools for data responsibility in practice to complement the OCHA Data Responsibility Guidelines.  This series is made possible with the generous support of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation.

For more on managing sensitive humanitarian data, visit the Data Responsibility page on the Centre’s website or contact our team at centrehumdata@un.org.

data responsibility guidance guidance note