International Rescue Committee, Washington, DC, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 May 7;15(5):e0232588. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232588. eCollection 2020.
Raqqa Governorate has been grappling with dual crisis-related burdens from the civil conflict and ISIS occupation. As part of a response to support households within this area, a three-month, unconditional cash assistance program was implemented by the International Rescue Committee to help households meet their basic needs. A quantitative, pre-posttest with 512 women at baseline (n = 456 at endline) was conducted in northern Raqqa Governorate between March-August 2018 to determine their experiences in this cash assistance program and to understand perceived change over time in food insecurity, perceived household serious needs and daily stressors, and depressive symptoms before and after cash was delivered. Forty women also completed in-depth interviews using a life line history technique at endline. Linear household fixed effects models demonstrated significant reductions in food insecurity (β = -0.95; 95%CI: -1.19--0.71), no change in perceived serious household needs and daily stressors (β = 0.12; 95%CI: -0.24-0.48), and increases in depressive symptoms (β = 0.89; 95%CI: 0.34-1.43) before and after the period of cash distribution. Although no causality can be inferred, short-term emergency cash assistance programming yielded significant improvements in food security, was highly acceptable and viewed favorably, and assisted women and their families to meet their basic needs in this emergency setting. However, before and after this form of cash assistance was implemented, no meaningful changes in the perceived levels of serious needs and stressors amongst households were observed, but potential increases in depressive symptoms for women were reported during this time period. Further work is needed to determine appropriate targeting, length, and dosage of cash, alongside any potential livelihood, psychosocial, or structural complementary programming to yield potential positive mental health benefits of a cash assistance program focused on meeting a population's basic needs while not inadvertently delaying or decreasing reach of life-saving cash assistance programming in emergencies.
拉卡省一直面临着内战和伊斯兰国占领带来的双重危机负担。为了应对该地区家庭的需求，国际救援委员会实施了一项为期三个月的无条件现金援助计划，帮助家庭满足基本需求。2018 年 3 月至 8 月，在拉卡省北部进行了一项有 512 名妇女参与的定量、前后测试（基线时有 456 名，终点时有 456 名），以了解她们在这项现金援助计划中的经历，并了解在发放现金前后，她们对粮食不安全、家庭严重需求和日常压力源以及抑郁症状的认知变化。在终点时，还有 40 名妇女使用生命线历史技术完成了深入访谈。线性家庭固定效应模型表明，粮食不安全状况显著改善（β=-0.95；95%置信区间：-1.19--0.71），家庭严重需求和日常压力源的感知没有变化（β=0.12；95%置信区间：-0.24-0.48），抑郁症状增加（β=0.89；95%置信区间：0.34-1.43）。虽然不能推断出因果关系，但短期紧急现金援助方案在粮食安全方面取得了显著改善，得到了高度认可和好评，并帮助妇女及其家庭在紧急情况下满足了基本需求。然而，在实施这种现金援助之前和之后，家庭感知到的严重需求和压力源水平没有明显变化，但在此期间报告称妇女的抑郁症状可能有所增加。需要进一步努力，确定现金的适当目标、期限和剂量，以及任何潜在的生计、心理社会或结构性补充方案，以实现以满足人口基本需求为重点的现金援助方案对心理健康的潜在积极影响，同时不会无意中延迟或减少紧急情况下的救命现金援助方案的覆盖范围。
