More than $23 million in cash assistance will be transferred to 39,000 households by Save the Children Fiji

39,000 households will be transferred more than $23 million by December this year through Save the Children Fiji’s Cash Transfer Program.

CEO Shairana Ali says they are assisting households that are without a source of income due to COVID-19.

She says the eligible applicants are not an existing beneficiary of any other assistance program, including any social protection or welfare program.

She says each household will receive three payments of $200 cash which will be transferred into their MyCash wallet or M-PAiSA accounts.

Ali says they have already verified and vetted a total of 16,772 households that have already been paid the first transfer amount of $200 on the 22nd of August.

She says these households will receive their second payment of $200 on the 22nd of September and their final payment of $200 on the 22nd of October.

She says the remaining 25000 households will be new beneficiaries who will be identified in partnership with government and civil society partners.

Ali says she hopes that the cash assistance will help ease the hardships faced by many families in Fiji.

She is urging families to utilise these funds wisely and prioritise spending to meet the immediate needs of their children.

Ali says to ensure people do not abuse this money to buy alcohol, kava and cigarettes, they have done thorough monitoring during the first phase of disbursement whereby they took a post-monitoring exercise, interviewed people and conducted case studies.