Cash transfers allow families to choose what they need, support local markets and often cost less to deliver than commodities. They also move large volumes of money quickly, frequently through third parties such as banks, mobile operators and agents, and often in insecure settings. That combination creates openings for fraud, collusion, exclusion errors and misuse of sensitive beneficiary data. Funders increasingly make approval and renewal depend on evidence that these risks are understood and managed.

The Governance and Compliance in Cash & Voucher Assistance Training Course gives practitioners a clear framework for accountable programming. Participants begin with the principles of cash coordination and the roles of programme, finance, procurement and logistics teams. They then work through targeting and verification, delivery mechanism selection, contracting and oversight of financial service providers, and reconciliation of payments. Further sessions deal with data protection, feedback channels, safeguarding, and compliance with donor regulations and sanctions rules.

The course relies on realistic scenarios, sample registers and payment files that participants analyse for errors and anomalies. By the end, each participant will have drafted a risk and control matrix, a monitoring plan and a set of standard operating procedures adapted to their own agency or government programme.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the governance structure and accountability lines of a cash and voucher programme.
• Apply transparent targeting, registration and verification procedures that limit exclusion and duplication.
• Evaluate and select delivery mechanisms and financial service providers using clear criteria.
• Draft service contracts with performance, data and audit provisions.
• Reconcile payments from budget to beneficiary and investigate discrepancies.
• Identify fraud and diversion risks and design proportionate preventive controls.
• Protect beneficiary data and operate safe, trusted complaints and feedback systems.
• Prepare documentation that satisfies donor audit and compliance requirements.

The course is designed for professionals who run or oversee cash-based assistance, such as:

• Cash and voucher programme managers and coordinators
• Finance managers and finance officers in NGOs and UN agencies
• Internal auditors and risk and compliance officers
• Monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning officers
• Procurement and logistics staff who contract payment providers
• Social protection and cash transfer officers in government
• Grants managers and donor liaison staff
• Information management and data protection officers
• Safeguarding and PSEA focal points

Participants leave the course with:

• A risk and control matrix covering each step of the cash delivery chain.
• A scoring tool for comparing financial service providers.
• A payment reconciliation template with sample exception tests.
• Draft standard operating procedures for registration, verification and payment.
• A complaints and feedback mechanism design suited to their context.
• A donor audit readiness checklist and document file structure.

The course treats compliance as part of delivering aid well. Delivery combines:

• Field scenarios from emergency and social protection cash programmes
• Data exercises using sample registers, payment files and agent reports
• Contract drafting and negotiation role plays with providers
• Brief inputs on donor regulations and sector guidance
• Group presentation of control matrices for peer feedback

Participants who attend the full five days and complete the data and drafting exercises are issued with a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.