00:00:05 Introduction to the Cash Consortium of Yemen

Hello everyone. I'm Asmahan Abdulqader and I am a MEAL officer at CCY, the Cash Consortium of Yemen, hosted by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). The cash program we run is a cooperation between five different partners: DRC, NRC, ACTED, Mercy Corps, and IOM. All those partners are under the Cash Consortium of Yemen. We are supposed to identify and help those in need, specifically vulnerable households, even if they are affected by a crisis like floods, displacement, or if they are simply the most vulnerable households.

All these organizations work within the same workflow or within the same system as CCY. To give you a clear understanding of the workflow or how our operation is done in the Cash Consortium of Yemen, first, we have to approach beneficiaries. We might have a referral list from clusters, for example, the RRM (Rapid Response Mechanism) cluster, which responds to displaced or flood-affected households with kits. Their list comes back to CCY. We follow that by doing a registration. One of our partners does a registration of those households, and then they have to do a verification over a sample, like 20% or 5%, to check that they are accurately vulnerable households.

After that, they do a final cleaning. We go through the list to check if there are any issues or mistakes. Then we do a deduplication to ensure that no household is receiving from multiple organizations at the same time or in the same year. Then we do a scoring over the clean data to check who is more eligible or who is a more vulnerable household to give them more cash assistance, such as six rounds of assistance. The least vulnerable might get one round, or if they are not vulnerable, they will be excluded from the distribution.

This is the process of the cash list, and then we go to the process of the MEAL activities. The quality assurance or the Monitoring and Evaluation activities should go through the data while the beneficiaries are receiving cash. We do a baseline survey before the beneficiary receives the cash assistance, and we do a PDM (Post-Distribution Monitoring) survey to check how the distribution went, such as the distance to the distribution point. Finally, we do the endline after the beneficiary has received their rounds of assistance to compare and see if the cash program had a good effect on these vulnerable households. All of our partners work on this same workflow.

00:04:06 Challenges and the move to ActivityInfo

What challenges did we face as a Cash Consortium? First, we needed database management. We needed to manage this data to have a unified master set containing all beneficiary data, from both the program side (registration) and the MEAL side (verification, endline). We needed to administer all of that to have one master database. Coordination was also difficult. We needed to check if households were receiving aid or if there were issues during a phase. It was hard to know how much had been done regarding PDMs, endlines, or baselines because, with five different partners operating in multiple governorates, districts, and sub-districts, it is hard to coordinate all of them.

We also wanted to have up-to-date data for reconciliation and funding tracking to know which donor a list is under. Before ActivityInfo, our system was Excel and Kobo. We used Kobo as a data collection tool, R for data cleaning, deduplication, scoring, and analysis, and Excel for the master data. We had to create multiple Excels: one for a master, one for tracking, and one for vulnerability verification. It was difficult because our workflow is a rapid response; we operate on a daily basis. If we receive a rapid response list of 100 households, we must process it immediately.

We faced issues where partners needed access to their data, but we couldn't give them access to Kobo because they would see everything for all partners, which violates data protection. It was also difficult to distinguish between the program team and the quality assurance team. Sometimes they would use the same data collection forms, and instead of doing verification, they might do a new registration. Furthermore, because everything was in Excel, there were hundreds of emails back and forth between five organizations. We couldn't easily check changes from the program to the verification team, and everyone had their own tracking system.

We moved to ActivityInfo to address these structure issues. We created an ActivityInfo form for each list with all the stages of the workflow: vulnerability, verification, baseline, PDM, endline, distribution, reconciliation, and donor funding. To coordinate the stage of each list, we created a status column. Based on the status, we can see if a list is ready for baseline, distribution, or is ongoing. Once the quality assurance team sees a list is in the baseline stage, they can proceed. We use locks so that teams cannot add data until the status of the list is changed.

Regarding roles, the program team should see their data, and the MEAL team should see theirs. In our system, the program team can only see specific forms like referral, vulnerability, and distribution. The MEAL team sees verification, baseline, and endlines. Additionally, teams in the South only see their data, and teams in the North only see theirs. This permission structure is very effective. Higher management has access to everything, making it easy to track when a list was created, how many were registered, verified, distributed, and the funding status.

00:15:21 Best practices from CCY

Our partners are now using ActivityInfo as the primary tracking tool. We also developed a Shiny app application as CCY, which is easy to link with ActivityInfo using the API. It is also easy to link with Power BI for dashboards.

From the CCY side, the best practice is finding the optimal workflow structure. Our workflow was complex, involving verification, cleaning, deduplication, and MEAL activities. I suggest creating a pilot structure and testing it. Once you find that it is easy for management to track and for the field team to enter data, that will be the optimal structure. It is not mandatory to keep the old system's steps; we removed multiple steps from our old system when we migrated to ActivityInfo.

00:17:40 Introduction to the AVSI Foundation

Fay: Thank you so much, Asmahan. This was incredible. You put in a lot of work, and we really appreciate how detailed you were. I hope that was useful for everyone. Now, I would like to pass the screen sharing to Tatiana, and we are excited to listen to the story from the AVSI Foundation as well.

00:18:14 AVSI's cash programs in Lebanon

Tatiana Bou Issa: Thank you, Fay. Thank you, Asmahan. In this presentation, we will go over a general introduction of AVSI's work in Lebanon, the types of cash programs implemented, the ActivityInfo cash system build, and the challenges faced.

AVSI is an Italian NGO operating since 1972 globally in over 40 countries. It has implemented more than 50 projects in Lebanon since 1996. The main sectors AVSI Lebanon works in are child protection, education, water and hygiene, agriculture, and food security and livelihood. Our main donors include UNICEF, AICS, BPRM, LHF, and the EU.

We implement two types of cash programs. The first is the livelihood support program, which includes market-based skills training followed by work-based learning activities or on-the-job training. It also includes business development support, providing cash grants to businesses, and agriculture initiatives support. The second type is the Cash-for-Work program. It provides income-generating opportunities to youth and adults while supporting private entities. Through Cash-for-Activity, AVSI supports municipalities and local authorities by strengthening infrastructure. We also support agricultural farmers where they host cash-for-workers to perform activities on their lands.

00:21:00 The cash monitoring system

To monitor these diverse programs, AVSI adopted ActivityInfo as its information management system. Previously, AVSI monitored cash programs through paper, Excel, and Kobo. This led to challenges with the program, donors, administration, and a lack of trust with beneficiaries.

The new cash monitoring system built on ActivityInfo mainly includes the outreach list. This is the master list received from local authorities or based on socio-economic assessments. This outreach list is linked to the registration form, which is filled out on registration days. This form includes specific, predefined selection criteria with a scoring grid to select beneficiaries.

The registration form is directly linked to an attendance tracking tool developed on ActivityInfo. Supervisors on the field use this to enter attendance via the mobile or desktop application, replacing Excel and paper. This tracking tool is then linked to a Post-Distribution Monitoring (PDM) form and digital timesheets. These timesheets are generated from ActivityInfo via Power Query to Excel based on the donor's required format. They are printed and signed by beneficiaries once a month, which solved many issues.

Regarding the data relational model, the Cash-for-Work tracking form starts with location, dates, and supervisor information. It has a "workers" subform referenced to the registration form, so beneficiary data is entered only once. Under the workers subform, there is an attendance subform including the date and daily wage. The date is a key field to prevent duplication. We also have a PDM subform and calculated fields for total attended days and payments. All these forms are linked to an indicator tracking report to generate pivot tables and graphs for regular tracking.

00:30:20 Challenges and solutions

We faced several challenges with the previous system that ActivityInfo addressed:

00:34:31 Q&A: Deduplication activities

Fay: Thank you very much, Tatiana. I'm going to go directly to the questions. One question here is: what are the activities to be done at the deduplication phase?

Asmahan: Since we are working in Yemen, beneficiaries do not have English names; they use Arabic. Also, many displaced or flood-affected people do not have IDs. We implement deduplication using an R script. We do a fuzzy lookup on R. If there are similarities of around 90%, we flag that to the partners. If they have already received cash during the year, they will not be eligible.

00:36:23 Q&A: Kobo vs. ActivityInfo

Fay: What specific advantages and disadvantages do you see for Kobo versus ActivityInfo?

Asmahan: Kobo is mainly a data collection tool. The good thing about ActivityInfo is that the field team collects data through it, but we can also download this data, do cleaning, and upload it back to edit the dataset. It is also good for tracking. In Kobo, we cannot give someone access to only their data; they see everything. In ActivityInfo, we can restrict access so each team sees only their data. We also solved the issue of casual workers needing access by giving them "add only" permissions, so they cannot view or edit existing data.

00:38:52 Q&A: Narrative reporting

Fay: How does ActivityInfo support narrative report preparation?

Tatiana: When building the system, we create forms related to the MEAL plan. These forms link directly to reports that generate the information needed for daily analysis. We look at the narrative report template required by the donor and ensure the main data needed for that template is generated directly using ActivityInfo.

00:40:00 Q&A: Standard Operating Procedures

Fay: Is there any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place?

Tatiana: For the cash monitoring system in AVSI Lebanon, we didn't yet develop a specific SOP for the system, but we are developing guidelines for capacity-building trainings. We do have SOPs for the cash program itself.

00:40:42 Q&A: Combining baseline and registration

Sarman: If we combine the baseline and the registration, will the indicators of the baseline be calculated on all beneficiaries we register, or only on the beneficiaries who will be selected after scoring?

Asmahan: You can combine them. However, in our framework, we had many questions for the baseline, like the Food Consumption Score. To save time and reach our 40-day response target, we didn't combine them. We only asked those detailed questions to the eligible households. But if it is a small number of questions, it is fine to combine them with registration.

00:42:36 Q&A: Change management

Fay: How did you manage the change management process moving from existing systems to a new one?

Asmahan: We are currently moving to a new MEAL framework. We will have a pause of one to two weeks where partners do not add data. We will add new questions and hide the deleted ones to keep the same structure and master database.

Tatiana: It was a challenge in Lebanon and the MENA region due to a lack of information management skills. It took time and in-house development, including capacity building, training, and peer-to-peer workshops. We created forms together and raised issues to the ActivityInfo support team. It was a step-by-step process to change the mindset from Excel to a centralized database.

00:46:01 Q&A: Data protection and regulations

Fay: Do you have any specific legislation or laws regarding data protection, and how do you address those with ActivityInfo?

Tatiana: AVSI has a data protection policy. For protection records, we have a specific case management database with specific user access where users only see their own records. We abide by the data protection policy for all data and supporting documents.

Asmahan: We also have regulations. Not everyone can see everything. Beneficiary IDs and data are not shared with other employees. Even the finance team is given access only to the data they need for reporting, without the personal identification IDs.

00:48:13 Q&A: Right to be forgotten

Fay: Have either of you ever had a beneficiary ask to have their data removed?

Asmahan: From our side, no. They ask if they are likely to receive the amount, but they haven't asked to remove data.

Tatiana: From our side, too, no.

00:48:43 Q&A: R vs. Excel for scoring

Fay: What are the advantages of using R for scoring rather than Excel?

Asmahan: Our scoring system is complex with three categories and different weights. If we did that in Excel, we would need 20 to 30 columns of formulas. With ActivityInfo, we download the data, run the R script to score and determine eligibility, and upload it back. It is much easier.

Tatiana: We use calculated fields within ActivityInfo for the scoring.

00:49:57 Q&A: Financial Service Providers

Fay: How do your systems interact with financial service providers (FSPs)?

Tatiana: The ActivityInfo form is linked to a payment table shared with the bank. This table shows the working days and total amount. The FSP contacts beneficiaries based on this information.

Asmahan: The program team and finance team have access to issue the list from the distribution form. They extract the data from ActivityInfo and send it to the FSP to contact beneficiaries and provide cash assistance.

00:51:24 Q&A: Data sharing agreements and risk

Inaf: Do you have data sharing agreements with every partner? And regarding operating without an SOP for the system, have you considered the risks?

Tatiana: There are specific SOPs for the cash program and cash retrieval, just not specifically for the ActivityInfo system setup yet. There is a data sharing agreement between AVSI and partners, though we are usually the direct implementer.

Asmahan: We have data sharing agreements with all our partners, as well as with clusters like the Protection Cluster and FSAC.

00:55:00 Q&A: Missing baseline data

Fay: What do you do if you need to conduct an endline evaluation but the baseline survey was not carried out?

Asmahan: It is hard because we need baseline data to know the improvement of those beneficiaries. If we don't have the baseline, we cannot compare the endline with any data.

Tatiana: In this case, we use secondary data sources, but it wouldn't be as accurate as comparing to baseline data.

00:57:14 Conclusion

Fay: Thank you so much, Tatiana and Asmahan, for your time and the excellent cooperation over the last couple of years. Thanks to all of those who joined us today.