4. Risk Management

In this project risk management was particularly concerned with the risks directly associated with the handling and distribution of big amount of cash. The multiple checks of the cash amounts inside the organisation help to avoid any errors and any attempts to alter the cash contents of the envelopes, etc. However, the decision of Concern to use temporary staff and volunteers for the handling , counting and distribution of cash was rather different from normal practices of other charities and organisations, for example Oxfam, who use only permanent staff members for the cash distribution operations. (Harvey & Savage, 2006)

It was also really risky decision not to use any police convoy in the cash transportation operations. It was explained in the report of Concern (Achtell, 2006) that the organisation did it deliberately in an attempt to avoid unnecessary attention from the side of potentially dangerous people. For the same reason the organisation tried to keep a low profile allowing minimum media coverage of its project or even avoiding using any logos or visible Concern signs. However, the organisation choice of such “low profile” approach as effective security measures does not sound so convincing. It is unclear what Concern actions would be in case of real danger (such as a raid). It might be wise to follow the example of other charities having much more experience in the field of cash transfers before to plan their own actions in terms of risk management related to the cash handling and delivery. Thus, most of the authors commented on this topic advice avoiding the direct cash transfers whenever possible, using instead more safety ways of transferring money via banks, special money remittance systems and the like. (Rauch & Herrmann, 2007;

Creti & Jaspar, 2006; Harvey & Savage, 2006) In case when direct cash transfer is the only option, it is suggested to use armed guards or police to accompany the vehicle with cash, as it does Oxfam in its direct cash transfer operations. (Harvey & Savage, 2007)

However, not only cash distribution has its risks. The transportation, storage and distribution of large amount of food can also be targeted by theft or looting. Besides, food supplies can be damaged under bad weather conditions or when handled inappropriately. (Creti & Jaspar, 2006)

5. Stakeholders Management

Regarding the stakeholders management during this project, FACT team did good job. During the problem identification and planning stages of the project they met with numerous influential groups from the local communities, including the local leaders (TAs, Group Village Heads, NGO staff, etc.), government representatives, as well as with other humanitarian organisations operated in the area at that time. They use their communication with the community groups to identify the beneficiaries for their programme and to prepare an effective delivery of the cash and food to those communities. However, due to the security reasons mentioned above, the project objectives and procedures were presented to the community representatives without mentioning the cash element. That information was remained concealed until a later stage of the project when the beneficiary lists had already been prepared. (Achtell, 2006; Deveraux et al, 2006)

Concern was already well know in the targeted areas, which facilitated its communication at the both local and national levels with many different influencing groups.

The communication with other groups of stakeholders, primarily with the donors, was partly performed through the evaluation report (Deveraux et al., 2006), which clearly demonstrated the positive outcomes of Concern cash and food transfer projects for the beneficiaries.

While some improvement in the stakeholder management could be suggested in order to improve the targeting of the households in need and reduction of inclusion and exclusion errors, on the whole, Concern’s performance in this area was very strong.

As it was mentioned earlier in this report, in spite of generally good performance in the communication field, some problems arose due to lack of coordination with MCRS representatives, which lead to forced changes of the initial action plan. Thus, concern would definitely benefit from the improvement of its communication and coordination with other humanitarian organisations. Moreover, some authors (Harvey & Savage, 2006; Harvey & Holmes, 2007) indicate joint efforts as an effective way of delivering the long- term programmes to the areas affected by famines or natural disasters.