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CASH PROGRAMME REVIEW FOR IDPs IN KABUL INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS 45intending to spend money from cash assistance in repayment of debts and investment in productiveactivities, whereas women privilege immediate needs in the household. The following questionstherefore need to be answered:- Who should be targeted in order to reach most efficiently the intended outcome?- Should targeting be based on poverty, by distinguishing sub-categories of vulnerability, or onthe potential of individuals to start/restore livelihoods?- What are the most effective mechanisms to efficiently target beneficiaries and ensureselection does not create tensions?What are the sharing patterns at both household and community levels? Identifying who has thespending power in the household and spending priorities according to gender can help in targetingbeneficiaries. Respondents unanimously (98%) reported income or expected income is spentprimarily for household members. Distinction between selecting individuals or households thereforeappears less relevant than differentiating between gender preferences. It is of common belief thatwomen are more likely to spend for their children’s health and education. This was not reflected inour survey and might need to be put into question given the acute level of needs of KIS inhabitantsand relegation of investment in education and health in a hypothetical future. Our data furthershowed that though women were often responsible for keeping money in the household, theirdecision-making power on expenditures varied according to communities, and remained low. Anadditional challenge in the KIS is the ability of women to purchase goods and exit their compounds.“Gender empowerment” might therefore be tricky in the context of the camps, unless targetedwomen are heads of households, as the survey showed they had significantly more control overresources and expenditures than other women. Existing traditional coping mechanisms and informalsupport mechanisms such as community solidarity also need to be taken into account. With 70.6%of respondents to our survey mentioning cash distribution will benefit the entire community, resultsfrom our survey indicate likely redistribution of cash grants could have positive on the entirecommunity.“The disadvantage of direct cash grants (not encountered here) is people tend to lie about theirdocuments: elderly and handicapped. A household that was not headed by an elderly suddenlybecomes headed by an elderly. People would change their status to receive cash instead of workingfor it. It goes down to correct targeting. We also had specific issues in Afghanistan: one husbandhas five wives, how do we treat them? We treat them as a separate household per wife. Then there’sthe issue of targeting a wife with no kids. Targeting itself is already an issue. So starting small is arequirement.”- ACF Programme managerLessons learned and obstacles from other NGOs and fieldwork in the KIS: Additional specificchallenges have been identified in targeting KIS inhabitants:Lack of documentation renders identification of beneficiaries difficult , especially for women.Alternative methods for identifying individuals will need to be developed, including informalID for instance, and close monitoring of cash distribution.Beneficiaries’ actual status: As underlined by a humanitarian worker, households have atendency to “increase” or change status (elders, female-headed households, disabled, etc.).Security conditions are not necessarily structural but can emerge if objectives and stages ofthe implementation of a programme are not clear to community members. Exclusion out ofthe programme can foster significant tensions in communities – an element that needs to bekept in mind during targeting and throughout implementation given the sensitivity of thecontext in KIS.Finally, depending on the intended objectives, several forms of targeting can therefore beconsidered: