A Week Can Change Everything: A New Collaboration For Cash Assistance In Chad

By combining digital cash assistance and community feedback systems, the Chad Red Cross is helping migrants receive support in days rather than weeks.

For people on the move, timing matters. Migrants travelling through Chad often arrive with little to no money and may stay only briefly before continuing their journey. By reducing the time needed to deliver support from weeks to days, the Chad Red Cross is helping people access essential assistance when they need it most and continue their journey safely.

From supporting hundreds to thousands at high speed

Over the past few years, the Chad Red Cross has steadily expanded its cash programmes. What started as support for a few hundred people grew into operations reaching thousands. As the scale increased, manual registration, payment and reporting processes became increasingly difficult to manage across multiple provinces. An accelerated approach was needed, particularly along migration routes where people rarely stay in one place for long.

To address the challenges of assisting people on the move, the Chad Red Cross worked with the Croix-Rouge britannique to redesign its cash delivery process. Following an initial pilot, the two National Societies partnered with the Croix-Rouge néerlandaise to integrate the 121 Plate-forme, a digital tool for humanitarian cash assistance, in the process. Together, the partners combined digital registration, streamlined data management and faster payment mechanisms. For mass cash distributions, this digitalisation reduced the time between registration and assistance from 49 days to less than 14 days. During one response, the National Society registered 4,000 households (24,000 people) across four locations et completed cash distributions within 10 days. This initiative is funded by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (FICR), le Croix-Rouge britanniqueet le Ministère des Affaires étrangères des Pays-Bas.

“People in transit sometimes arrive with nothing in their pockets and are unable to meet essential needs. When cash assistance arrives quickly, it helps them buy food, access healthcare, and continue their journey.”

Alhadj Mahamat Abderahim, Treasurer and Cash Focal Point at the Chad Red Cross

The impact extends beyond speed. Digitising paper-based processes has improved transparency, reduced administrative burden, and given programme teams better visibility of activities and results.

Putting operations in local hands

It was important to ensure that branch teams could manage operations independently. Volunteers learn to use 121 within hours, while Chad Red Cross branch teams manage key activities such as printing coupons with personalized QR codes to identify participants and distributions. Financial Service Provider (FSP) Express Union is also involved, helping verify recipients and distribute cash securely. This makes local ownership one of the programme’s greatest strengths, with teams building capacities that can be applied across future cash operations.

“The implementation of such a system is clear evidence of the National Society’s digital maturity, particularly in cash transfer programming. It also represents a historic step forward in delivering principled humanitarian assistance.”

Fernand Azonnanon, Programme Coordinator at the Chad Red Cross

Delivering assistance, listening to communities

To strengthen accountability, the Chad Red Cross integrated a digital community feedback management system in their cash programming that helps teams collect, analyse and respond to community feedback, ensuring that questions, concerns and suggestions inform programme improvements. Now, teams track programme indicators in real time while ensuring community feedback is reflected in decision-making.

Two programme participants share their stories:

“I used to live peacefully with my husband and son in El-Geneina, Sudan, until the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023. In a single day, my life took a turn for the worse, plunging me into a living hell. Today, the Chad Red Cross has restored my dignity and given me reason to believe that there is still hope. I was registered by Chad Red Cross volunteers just three days ago, and already this morning they took me to les hospital to receive treatment for my high blood pressure, diabetes and rheumatism. I have also received 9,000 CFA francs to buy food. I would like to thank the Chad Red Cross for responding so quickly to my needs.”  

Aïcha

“I am a husband, a father of six children, and a migrant from South Darfur, Sudan. I spent a whole year at a refugee reception centre in Adré before coming to Abéché, where I have now been for four weeks. My aim is to get to Libya, where I have contacts, friends and job opportunities. I was registered by Chad Red Cross volunteers on Tuesday, and on Thursday morning, I was invited to collect my voucher to help provide food for my family. The Chad Red Cross has always welcomed us warmly. The volunteers serve us tea and offer emotional support.”

Ismaël

Connectivity remains a challenge in some operational areas, but offline data collection, clear procedures and dedicated connectivity support at Humanitarian Service Points have helped ensure programmes can continue operating even in low-connectivity environments.

Better together

“The success of this initiative was rooted in the combination of complementary expertise, mutual trust, flexibility and a shared objective. Together, we were able to operate as one team while combining local implementation capacity, cash programming expertise and digital innovation.”

Ana Montoya Bermejo, Senior Resilience Programme Manager at the British Red Cross

The progress in Chad tells a story of collaboration, as the programme brought together the Chad Red Cross’ operational presence and engagement with migrant communities, the British Red Cross’ expertise in cash preparedness and programming, and 510’s data and digital capabilities. Together, the partners created a faster, more accountable model that remains firmly rooted within the Chad Red Cross itself.

As the Chad Red Cross expands these tools beyond current priority provinces, the experience offers valuable lessons for National Societies across the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. The programme demonstrates how digital tools can reduce response times, strengthen transparency and improve data quality. But technology alone is not enough. Investments in local capacity and strong partnerships remain essential to delivering faster, more accountable and people-centred assistance at scale.