The 121 Platform has been designed to help humanitarian INGOs and local NGOs to increase the quality and scale of Cash and Voucher Assistance. Through the 121 Platform they can ensure that people receive Cash and Voucher Assistance in an easy, safe and fast way. Local humanitarian actors are first to respond to emergencies, and they often have access to areas that other international actors do not. Localisation means increasing international investment and respect for the role of local actors, with the goal of reducing costs and increasing the reach of humanitarian action.

Maintaining quality whilst upscaling cash assistance is tackled through the 121 Platform, the Cash Program Design Wizard and providing Cash Information Management trainings. This case study will go into depth on the latter.         


The Cash Information Management trainings build the capacity for organisations to be more effective when it comes to data for cash projects. The goals of the training series can be formulated as:

The need for Cash Information Management trainings
Cash Information Management is not new, but Cash and Voucher Assistance is Information Management heavy. In Cash projects, significant amounts of personal information are gathered, stored, analysed and shared. Furthermore, there is more pressure from donors to do detailed Monitoring & Evaluation (such as reconciliation), for fraud and aid diversion detection.

Because Cash and Voucher Assistance projects are Information Management heavy, involved staff should be capable to deal with these significant amounts of data. However, this is not always the case and different staff have very different skill levels when it comes to Information Management. Therefore the training curriculum was designed: to bring all participants up to a base level of Information Management understanding.

The 121 Platform Information Management trainingThis training was conducted in 6 weekly sessions (of 2 hours) and was delivered online. The training methodology was a mix of presentations, group discussions, group and individual exercises, practical examples, and brainstorms. This allowed participants to engage with each other and facilitators in the online setting, as well as put the learned skills to practical use. For each session there were two facilitators, one with a cash background and one with an Information Management background to diversify the shared experiences.

The curriculum consisted out of the following sessions:

We have trained over 50 people from 17 different organisations. Organisational focal points as facilitators aimed at creating a sustainable communication mechanism between participants and their focal points for addressing any future training needs.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn and acquire the skills that will impact my organisation’s work for many years to come.”
(Munyimwa Tembo, Monitoring and Evaluation Office at Partners for Life Advancement and Education Promotion)

Main findings
On average, participants gave our training a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 8.5 (on the question of: How likely is it that you would recommend this training to your colleagues?). People in general were quite happy with the training provided. The learnings from delivering the training were that there is indeed a large need for capacity building around Cash Information Management.

The training series was designed by 510 and facilitated by Dorcas, Tearfund, ZOA and 510. The 510 Cash Information Management team will use the material to train other National Societies on Cash Information Management. In addition, all training materials will be made easily accessible on the Cash Hub. All consortium partners can provide Cash Information Management Training on request.

All learning materials are currently available through our Google Drive
Want to know more on the 121 platform? Visit www.121.global for more information or to sign in for information on all developments. You can also contact Anton van Wijk (Humanitarian Aid Expert at Dorcas) via a.vanwijk@dorcas.nl.

The consortium
The scaling up of the 121 platform by the consortium (Dorcas, ZOA, Help a Child, Tearfund, Cordaid and 510) is made possible by funding of the Dutch Relief Alliance through the DRA Innovation Fund. The Dutch Relief Alliance Innovation Fund is a fund created by the Dutch Relief Alliance with financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Dutch Relief Alliance operates at a global level through an alliance of Dutch humanitarian organisations and in partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2015. They work together with more than 100 local organisations. 

For the third time in a row Dorcas Moldova organised a food collection campaign. In a time where a lot of Moldovan struggle with high prices and a worsening health and economic situation, Dorcas Moldova still distributed more than 3,000 buckets full of food. Many people in Moldova are suffering and living under difficult circumstances, especially those without financial stability, who are suffering from an illness or simply have no ways to provide for their basic needs.

Dorcas Moldova organised food collections, in blue buckets, and offered these buckets to marginalised people, such as older persons and families living in difficult circumstances. In the context of the situation created by the pandemic, which led to isolation, fear, stress and concern about what’s coming, Dorcas Moldova continued to support people who struggle with difficulties every day, helping them look to the future with hope. A total of 3,278 families received a bucket full of food products during the Blue Bucket Campaign 2021 edition. This is the third year in a row that Dorcas Moldova is organising the Blue Bucket Campaign. In the first two editions of the campaign, more than 3,000 buckets full of food arrived in the homes of families facing difficulties or at risk.

The campaign team is deeply moved by the generosity of the people, and the results far exceeded expectations. For the 2021 edition, they wanted to support 1,500 families in need. The actual number of buckets that needed to be filled with food reached 3,278. But the “Blue Bucket” means more than just a bucket of food. It’s a way to show love and empathy for their neighbour through concrete deeds, to meet the needs of those in difficult circumstances. The Blue Bucket Campaign is a joint contribution to bring the joy of the winter holidays to the families of those who fight for existence every day.

On this occasion, Dorcas Moldova would like to thank everyone who contributed to these wonderful results: the local partners and churches, the team of teachers, students and parents from the private institutions and high schools, and the diaspora. Additionally, people donated money which resulted in 60 buckets of food for families with limited possibilities of existence. 

Dorcas Moldova also received great support from our International Office in the Netherlands.  Through our shared vision, we exchange knowledge and other resources. Together, we speak out against injustice. This is how we amplify our impact.

The complexity of disaster response projects makes it hard for developers to understand how to develop effective digital tools that meet the needs of the users. Human Centered Design is a design and management framework that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. It aims to help people get a better understanding of the problems they face and the solutions they develop.

Using science based and data driven methods and products to help improve humanitarian aid is very important. Ensuring people trust and use them with ease is just as important. ‘When we started with 510 we began with a data-driven approach, as we have evolved, we were able to introduce Human Centered Design into the digital creation process,’ says Orla Canavan, Strategic Product Design Lead at 510.

Human Centered Design has played a key role in developing the 121 platform to where it stands now. The 121 Platform has been designed to help humanitarian INGOs and local NGOs to increase the quality and scale of humanitarian cash programming. Through the 121 Platform they can ensure that people receive Cash and Voucher Assistance in an easy, safe and fast way.

Read and download case study on Building Cash Products Through Human Centered Design:

Building-Cash-products-through-Human-Centered-DesignDownload

The scaling up of the 121 platform by the consortium (Dorcas, ZOA, Help a Child, Tearfund, Cordaid and 510) is made possible by funding of the Dutch Relief Alliance through the DRA Innovation Fund. This Innovation Fund is a fund created by the Dutch Relief Alliance with financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Dutch Relief Alliance operates at a global level through an alliance of Dutch humanitarian organisations and in partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2015. They work together with more than 100 local organisations.