Cash transfers and COVID-19: Experiences from Kiryandongo, Uganda. Mini report 2 of 3.

This study explores how unconditional cash transfers influence the ability of refugees to adhere to COVID-19 public health measures, and to access health services during a pandemic.

This report presents the second set of findings from the surveys conducted in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Uganda.

Key findings:

• Compliance with COVID-19 public health measures
  Respondents reported to have left home 3.2 days a week on average; one-third reported maintaining
  social distancing each time they left the house. Four-fifths reported wearing masks when out; maskwearing was 6%-points higher in the treatment group than the control group.
• Food consumption
  Higher food consumption was not detected in households with transfers relative to the control group. Overall weekly household consumption is 118.48 USD PPP (with 7 household members on average.)
• Safety and security in settlement
  Respondents most commonly report burglary and water disputes as key community safety and security concerns. More than half of respondents also felt unsafe to go to the market and to fetch water. The majority of respondents (63%) reported that they had experienced, witnessed or heard of burglary (including theft and muggings) occurring in the settlement in the past seven days.