From Crisis to Cash in Ethiopia: An Inside Scoop on 121’s Largest Cash Programme to Date

When conflict, climate shocks and health crises converge, families face unimaginable challenges. In Ethiopia, such multi-crisis conditions have displaced millions. The Ethiopian Red Cross Society is one of few organisations able to service conflict-affected regions due to its longstanding community trust. To meet urgent needs, the National Society launched a large-scale cash assistance programme, providing relief worth €3 million to over 50,000 households across four conflict- and drought-affected regions: Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and Benishangul Gumuz. This achievement was made possible through the 121 platform, a digital solution to make at-scale humanitarian cash assistance easy, safe, and fast. The initiative has been funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom, in collaboration with the British Red Cross.

“121 has been a transformative tool for our work. It has helped us reach hundreds of people with cash payments in a secure and efficient manner, and made my job much easier.”

Geleta Mosisa Terfa, Disaster Risk Management Expert and Project Coordinator at the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

Dignified Support to People in Crisis

The programme targets internally displaced persons, returnees and their host communities. By providing unconditional multipurpose cash transfers, families can prioritize what they need, when they need it. From food to medical care and shelter, households restore dignity and choice during a time of uncertainty.

This collaborative effort has been spearheaded by the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, enabling secure and timely transfers with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the Cooperative Bank of Oromia as Financial Service Providers (FSPs). Behind the scenes, the Netherlands Red Cross’ data and digital team, 510, is providing the technology backbone: the team has set up the 121 system, integrated it with local FSPs, trained National Society staff, and offers ongoing support and troubleshooting in real time. This way, even in complex, high-pressure environments, humanitarian actors can deliver assistance quickly, safely, and at scale.

“Before using 121, we had to send payment lists to the bank and wait for processing. Now we can initiate payments directly from the platform — even during public holidays or at night!”

Endale Zenebe, CVA Coordinator at the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

121: A Cash Assistance All-Rounder

The 121 platform is a proven enabler for humanitarian response, built for scale, speed and security. In Ethiopia, over 50,000 households were registered for receiving cash assistance in under a month, illustrating how far the platform has come: from small pilots to supporting tens of thousands of households.

When needs surge, 121 can scale without compromising speed or quality, making it ideal for deployment in emergency settings. And the numbers speak for themselves: so far, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society has been able to reach 38,100 households to date much faster (in some zones, the programme is still ongoing). Perceptions of accountability, coordination, and data protection all improved among National Society teams, with digital payments achieving 98.9% successful processing. The processing success rate is the result of high-quality datasets, resulting in low efforts for National Societies to go back into communities to correct banking information.

“The 121 platform has significantly improved the delivery of cash assistance. It made the process faster, more transparent, and easier to manage, while reducing manual work and errors. In our day-to-day operations, it supported accurate registration, timely payments, and better accountability.”

Fikadu Wami,Project Coordinator at the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

Keeping Data Safe Through Role-Based Access

Managing sensitive data for 50,000 households is a feat, only possible through structured data management and role-based access controls. This approach ensures that sensitive data is protected: leads within each of the four regions can view all data for their area, while zonal staff manage records for their zones only. 121’s role-based access model goes beyond compliance: it empowers teams to work efficiently while safeguarding privacy. With different staff seeing only what they need, data breach risks are reduced, setting a benchmark for responsible humanitarian tech.

“The data remains with us. We no longer share the data of cash recipients with FSPs, except for cash-in-hand payments.”

Endale Zenebe, CVA Coordinator at the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

Speed: Emergency-Ready Integration in Just One Week

In emergencies, every hour counts. The rapid integration with the Cooperative Bank of Oromia, completed by the 510 team in one week, proves that 121 can reach the last mile even under pressure. When emergency strikes, organizations don’t have to wait months to start delivering assistance. With on-site support from 510, systems can go live within days, ensuring that cash reaches those who need it most when timing is critical.

“Validation used to be done at HQ. Now, with 121, regional and branch offices can validate directly. This has reduced time significantly.”

Endale Zenebe, CVA Coordinator at the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

A Breakthrough for Ethiopian Cash Assistance – And 121

Reaching an important milestone, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society’s programme is now the largest ever implementation of the 121 platform in terms of people reached… for now. With structured datasets, robust security, and rapid deployment, 121 enables organizations to respond effectively, even in complex settings. As the Ethiopian Red Cross Society looks ahead, this success reflects a growing recognition of digital tools like 121 as lifelines for the most vulnerable.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the Arabic, French and Spanish versions of this article were automatically generated using Artificial Intelligence. We cannot guarantee full accuracy of these versions.