Global Cash Advisory Group Terms of Reference 2022

Background

The Global Cash Advisory Group (CAG) was formed following the IASC Principal’s endorsement of a model for predictable cash coordination which was developed by the Grand Bargain Cash Coordination Caucus. The CAG was established in June 2022 as an entity associated with the IASC, reporting to the IASC Deputies Group.

Purpose

The purpose of the global Cash Advisory Group (CAG) is to support country level cash coordination technically and in terms of capacity with the overall aim of improving the quality and effectiveness of cash coordination.
The IASC endorsed cash coordination model is built on the principle of localisation, enabling more inclusive coordination with greater participation of national and local actors, and helping to ensure decisions regarding cash interventions are made closer and with greater accountability to the crisis-affected population.

The following principles for cash coordination will be embedded throughout the work of the CAG:

  1. Cash coordination will put accountability to affected people at the centre and be responsive to recipients’ feedback.
  2. Cash coordination will prioritise participation, inclusion, and representation.
  3. Cash coordination is multisectoral and will operate across responses1, with clear responsibilities to, engagement with and expectations from the rest of the system.
  4. Cash coordination will ensure two-way engagement with humanitarian decision making bodies and drive a more effective overall response.
  5. Local engagement and leadership will be actively not just passively enabled.
  6. Leadership of cash coordination will be neutral and separate from financing and implementation.
  7. Cash coordination will be transparent, accountable, and predictable.
  8. Cash coordination will be flexible and adapt to changes in context.
  9. Cash coordination will respect humanitarian principles.
  10. Cash coordination will consider linkages with social protection systems where relevant and appropriate.
  11. Cash coordination should work in all humanitarian settings where cash is and/ or being planned to be implemented including those with IASC

Roles and responsibilities

The CAG will focus on the following functional areas:

  1. Standard setting and capacity building
    1. Provide standard Terms of References for cash coordination (for both Cash Working Groups and for cash coordinators) at country-level, based on a set of agreed functions, and applicable to both IASC and refugee coordination settings.
    2. Develop standards, tools and guidance to integrate cash coordination within the HPC (or equivalent), based on common standards; and provide a repository of clear guidance, tools and standards for cash coordination ensuring the centrality of protection.
    3. Integrate and build on the work of CaLP, CCD, CashCap, UNCCS and others, and their available tools, guidance and support.
    4. Set essential competences expected from cash coordinators and provide guidance for their recruitment and role induction.
    5. Provide technical advice and guidance to in-country cash coordination bodies as requested.
    6. Support cross-fertilization of good practices among CWGs and provide technical support on collaborative cash programming, where required.
    7. Ensure strong information sharing on cash assistance across responses and across global clusters.
    8. Provide overviews of best practices and ensure knowledge sharing across all cash actors – including learnings on topics such as the linkage between CVA and social protection and how to best integrate CVA in IM tools.
  2. Advocacy, global monitoring, and liaison
    1. At the global level, advocate to relevant stakeholders (e.g. humanitarian leadership, donors etc) that cash coordination arrangements take place in an effective, timely and appropriate manner.
    2. At the global level, be a forum for resolving common challenges on cash coordination and elevating these as relevant.
    3. Undertakes regular stocktaking of country-level CWGs (although the CAG has no accountability for CWGs functionality).
      1. This includes the setting of KPIs for ‘health checks’ for CWGs including complaints and feedback mechanisms.
    4. Provide information and input as required/requested by the IASC mechanisms related to cash coordination and CVA within the humanitarian system.
    5. Sectoral Support or advisory functions: ensure engagement via the GCCG to support (as relevant) Clusters/Sectors in their engagement with CVA as a modality.
    6. Engage with relevant actors to strengthen the global information/knowledge management for cash coordination.
    7. Develop linkages to social protection coordination bodies, where appropriate.
  3. Resourcing and prioritisation
    1. At the global level, the chairs of the CAG are responsible, in collaboration with country co-leads, for highlighting any resource gaps and assisting countries to find resources to enable skilled human resources and expertise at the country level, including through investment in capacity strengthening to ensure required competency.
    2. The CAG will formalise ways of working with a neutral, independent interagency deployment model (e.g. CashCap). Individuals within this roster could be deployed as both programmatic and non-programmatic counterparts to national coordinators as a temporary boost, as well as on surge to the co-chairs in the short-term.

Composition and membership

The CAG is chaired by OCHA, unless the topic under discussion relates to a refugee setting or standard where UNHCR takes on the chairmanship. The CAG core group is composed of 12 voting members including the two chairs. The group is made up of senior technical level representatives. Membership will be reviewed after 2 years with rotations of these members then considered. Membership is based on individual participation to ensure continuity. When an individual member is not able to participate in particular meetings, they may on an exceptional basis nominate an alternate who should be fully briefed by and speak on behalf of the individual member. If an individual is no longer able to participate regularly for reasons such as re-assignment to another function, the member organization may nominate a new representative. Local/ National actors will be supported by a technical cash expert to further support their review of documents or other technical inputs. This expert may also support the consultation with wider national/local constituency on important issues. This expert will sit in an observer function and does not have a vote.

When wider consultations are required, the CAG may choose to invite additional stakeholders to CAG meetings. In these instances, additional stakeholders would participate in an observer capacity without the right to vote. Depending on the agenda items, these expanded meetings could include representatives from entities such as, DCO and other development actors, private sector, donors’ groups, World Bank, other UN agencies, INGOs or umbrella organisations, GCCG representatives and the CashCap inter-agency project, or other technical experts etc. In order to facilitate engagement, the CAG may ask certain stakeholders to nominate a focal point to facilitate regular engagement with the CAG.

OCHA and UNHCR will be responsible for the secretariat functions of the CAG. This includes: organize meetings; draft and distribute the agenda and action points; make minutes public; bring issues of concern to the CAG’s attention, monitor progress against CAG action points and decisions; maintain a contact list of CAG members and an IM platform for the group; prepare materials for distribution to the CAG; and, facilitate the flow of information with other bodies and entities, as needed.

Expectations from members

Successful implementation of the CAG annual workplan depends upon the contribution and active participation of all members of the CAG. In order to deliver upon the agreed collective outcomes, members will need to dedicate sufficient time to CAG activities and to ensure regular participation in meetings. Members unable to participate effectively will be reminded by the chair of these responsibilities. CAG members should be impartial and support the principles as outlined in the agreed model. Those members who have been elected to represent a larger constituency must accurately represent the views of their stakeholders rather than organisation/agency specific mandates.

Decision-making

As a primary approach, the CAG will strive to achieve consensus, wherever possible. In case of deadlock, and before embarking on a vote, the CAG should first attempt to resolve this via escalation to the concerned members’ respective Directors. These Director level discussions may be requested to help resolve disagreements or blockages (if any/needed) before a vote is taken. Following this, the CAG will then work on a majority vote in line with the model endorsed by the IASC Principals. Additionally, the CAG will work in coordination with their respective Directors to clear documents being submitted to the IASC Deputies.

Only core CAG members (including chairs) have decision-making authority. For any decision to be considered binding, a quorum of at least eight (8) of the 12 CAG members (including chairs) are required to participate. In case of absence, members may also send (in advance) a request to vote remotely. When a vote is taken with a quorum representation, the requirement for a majority of the total membership still stands – e.g. at least 7 votes to pass.

Members of the CAG will limit the re-opening of discussions on topics where decisions have been taken solely to instances where new information, requests or circumstances have emerged and failure to reconsider decisions will negatively impact cash coordination on the ground and, by extension, hamper humanitarian response. Failure to participate in a previous decision-making process will not be considered a circumstance granting reopening of a discussion/reconsidering a decision made.

Whenever decisions or issues of major importance are being discussed, members will be given ample time (a minimum of 10 working days) to consult with their stakeholders (relevant constituencies or organization management) in advance of a vote.

Methods of work

The CAG will develop annual workplans in line with the IASC Deputies priorities. The CAG will have a forward agenda with clearly defined outputs, roles and responsibilities. The CAG’s forward agenda, workplan and minutes will be available publicly. in a timely manner, to foster linkages with relevant IASC bodies and entities associated like it, such as the GCCG. The CAG will hold fortnightly meetings until the transition plan has been completed (September 2022) and will then move to monthly meetings until December 2022. Following this, the CAG will consider whether meetings should be less frequent or on a reactive basis.

The CAG may activate temporary working groups made by a subset of its core members on a volunteer basis to advance the CAG work on specific themes.

The CAG will explore and define how the group will have linkages to financing in the short, medium and long term.

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