Investment from ECHO will strengthen global standards, capacity, evidence, and coordination to improve protection outcomes for crisis-affected populations.
GENEVA, 10 September 2026 – A new investment by European Union Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) will help to turn cash assistance for children in humanitarian settings into more meaningful protection outcomes, Save the Children said.
Around the world, Save the Children uses “Cash for Protection” to support vulnerable people and families in crisis, allowing families to meet essential needs like food, rent, healthcare, and education to keep children in safe and stable environments.
While cash assistance can help a family to survive the immediate aftermath of a crisis, turning that assistance into meaningful protection for children, women, and vulnerable communities remains a challenge. The Global Protection Cluster's Cash for Protection Task Team (TTC4P) aims to tackle this by ensuring that cash assistance is part of a broader, more holistic humanitarian response.
Led by Save the Children, the TTC4P is an inter-agency platform that brings together protection and cash assistance experts to strengthen the use of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) within protection programmes.
With the support of ECHO, the TTC4P has reached more than 200 organisations through its learning and training efforts, helping to build a stronger community of practice around “Cash for Protection”.
Training activities have already taken place in Ukraine, Myanmar and Sudan, bringing together 120 practitioners to strengthen their technical capacity and to share learnings, with future trainings already planned.
Save the Children has also released a new two-part video explaining how cash, when embedded within specialised protection services, can help to prevent, mitigate, and respond to protection risks faced by children and families in humanitarian crises.
Developed by the TTC4P with support from ECHO, the video unpacks why cash matters for protection and how practitioners can design, deliver, and monitor safe and effective programmes.
It is one of a growing set of resources that the TTC4P is producing and disseminating to strengthen protection outcomes for crisis-affected populations.
Rebecca Smith, Global Head of Child Protection at Save the Children International, said:
"Cash assistance can play a critical role in helping people to meet urgent needs during crises. Through the TTC4P, we are working to ensure that humanitarian actors also have the tools, evidence, and support needed to use cash in ways that contribute to protection outcomes including positive impact on family reunification; mitigating the risk of family separation; reduced prevalence in child labour; reduced risks of child marriage.
“By bringing together expertise from across the sector, we are helping turn promising practice into more consistent and effective action at scale.”
About the Task Team on Cash for Protection
The Global Protection Cluster's Task Team on Cash for Protection (TTC4P) was established in 2017 to advance the safe, coordinated, and effective use of cash within broader, comprehensive protection programming for expected outcomes. The TTC4P brings together protection and CVA specialists from UN agencies, NGOs, and coordination bodies.
ABOUT SAVE THE CHILDREN
Save the Children is the world’s leading independent children’s organisation.
Every year, we reach tens of millions of children in more than 100 countries through our life-changing work.
For more information:
Julia Grasset: Julia.Grasset@savethechildren.org
Roberta Gadler: roberta.gadler@savethechildren.org
For media queries
Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Global Media Manager: Asia
Amy.Lefevre@savethechildren.org
