When was the last time you did something where 100% of the people you talked to were satisfied? Only 15% of American voters were satisfied with Congress in July of 2018. Just 34% of British citizens were satisfied with their Prime Minister. The 2018 iPhone X did rather better—it got a 98% satisfaction rate. But CARE’s humanitarian response in Niger does even better than iPhone. 100% of participants were satisfied with the cash transfer program from 2017-2018.
Strengthening Access to Livelihoods and Basic Services (SALI Base) ran in Niger from 2017-2018 with $1.5 million in support from USAID’s Office of Disaster Assistance, and reached 14,450 people. We partnered with local NGOs DEMI-E and Action for the Vulnerable (AVF).
What did we accomplish?
- People get enough to eat: 98% of people saw their food consumption go up—enough to cover their basic calorie needs. 61% of people also say their long-term food security increased.
- Women earn more money: 27% of women said their incomes went up, and 93% of women started businesses to earn more income.
- Families are satisfied with CARE’s work: 100% of families were satisfied with the cash support they got and the support for businesses. 95% of participants were satisfied with the hygiene kits they received.
How did we get there?
- Use cash: Each family got $56 in cash to use however they wanted every month for 4 months. With the cash they received, families invested in food, businesses that would earn them money, and paying off their debts. They also spent money to help their neighbors and improve social solidarity. The MFI Nitatransfert took care of mobile money transfers.
- Improve infrastructure: The project built or repaired 1 water tower, 30 community water sources, and 10 latrines to help people have clean water and good hygiene.
- Let locals lead: The project worked with both refugees and host community members to select people who would get cash, how the water points would be set up, and manage activities. The communities worked with CARE to set up 9 water management committees and 15 hygiene committees, and 34 complaints committees to make sure infrastructure works for the long term.
- Think about child care: The project worked with communities to set up 30 child-friendly spaces that provided safe space and meals for 6,625 children and 210 volunteer teachers taught lessons.
- Set up VSLAs: The project created 138 new VSLA groups by working through 39 new Village Agents.
- Be efficient: By working with other projects and combining efforts, the project more than accomplished its goals with fewer staff members than it would have needed if it had not been part of a broader humanitarian response.
Want to learn more?
Check out the evaluation.