Delivering Humanitarian Cash Transfers to new mothers

As footsteps fill the crowded corridor of the Health Complex in Manoharganj Subdistrict, 18-year-old mother Nasrin Akter joins the mothers lined up at the ticket counter. She holds her 10-month-old daughter Muntaha, by balancing her on her hip. Today, they are here for a routine check-up. 

In the examination room, the nurse wraps a cuff around Nasrin’s arm to check her blood pressure. Next, she gently presses on the skin under her eyes to look for signs of anemia – a condition that impacts 49% of women in the South Asian region and could be life-threatening if left untreated. 

Next up is Muntaha. Nasrin lays her on the weighing scale. Little Muntaha seems slightly annoyed by the summer heat today but is still cooperative. The nurse slides a Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measuring tape around Muntaha. The tape reads green. This means Muntaha is not malnourished.  

Nasrin watches, with a sense of relief in her eyes. 

A year earlier, things were far from relief for her. “The floodwaters entered the village all of a sudden,” recalls Nasrin. “Slowly, it rose up and entered our house. At that time, I was six months pregnant. We raised the beds higher by placing things underneath, but the dirty floodwaters and bad smell persisted. All our ducks and chickens died, parts of our home collapsed, and we had to fix it from scratch.” 

Nasrin got married at 17 after her parents arranged it. When the 2024 floods in southeastern Bangladesh submerged her village, she was pregnant and in the middle of a disaster. While all of this was happening, a serious concern was eating her alive. 

“I kept thinking...if something happens to me or if I give birth earlier than my due date, how will I reach the hospital? All the roads and vehicles were underwater. I could not stop thinking about how I was going to get treatment.” “I kept thinking...if something happens to me or if I give birth earlier than my due date, how will I reach the hospital? All the roads and vehicles were underwater. I could not stop thinking about how I was going to get treatment.” 

Luckily, when she gave birth, the water had receded. Nasrin delivered her baby at the same health complex where she now comes for check-ups. She named her daughter Muntaha. “She is a healthy baby. I love her very much,” says Nasrin, while helping Muntaha take her afternoon nap. 

Humanitarian Cash Transfer (HCT) 

In 2024, floods and cyclone Remal devastated parts of southeastern Bangladesh, sweeping away homes, submerging schools and playgrounds, and even claiming lives of children and families. In the aftermath, even something as routine as a health check-up became a financial burden for families like Nasrin’s.  

To ease that burden, UNICEF, with support from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), worked with the Government to identify the most vulnerable mothers for humanitarian cash transfers. The programme focused on mothers with children under two years old, using government health records to find those who had regularly attended antenatal check-ups or delivered their babies in public health facilities. Each mother received a flexible allowance of BDT 6,000 (about USD 51) as recommended by the Cash Working Group. The money was sent directly via mobile banking, cutting out delays.

For Nasrin, the cash meant more than just numbers on a screen. It allowed her to cover medical bills for herself and her daughter and even save a small amount to buy a little toy car for little Muntaha. The flexible cash allowance not only gave her some financial relief, but also the dignity to make her own choices.  

The emergency response supported 16,685 households in Comilla, Habiganj, Laxmipur, Noakhali, Bramanbaria, Maulavibazar and Sylhet. Of these, 1,675 flood affected households with pregnant and breastfeeding mothers received humanitarian cash assistance. The humanitarian cash assistance reached 5090 households which included 131 persons with disabilities. For many, it meant getting healthcare, nutritious food, and other essentials, and in some cases, relief from debts. 

At the same time, UNICEF supported Government health facilities in Comilla by deploying additional medical staff and delivering essential supplies such as antenatal test kits and medicines, on time. This ensured that women could continue using healthcare services during and after the disasters, whether routine check-ups, safe childbirth services, postnatal care or growth monitoring for newborns.  

These efforts not only restored maternal and newborn healthcare in flood-affected areas but also strengthened the system to withstand future emergencies, so that the most vulnerable families continue to receive life-saving care even in times of crisis. 

Insights from this programme are now being shared with the Government to advocate for the inclusion of adolescent mothers–often the most at-risk group yet excluded–in the Government’s Mother and Child Benefit programme, which currently only supports mothers over the age of 20. 

In addition, UNICEF is working with the Government to integrate humanitarian cash transfers with essential health and nutrition services through a cash-plus approach. By combining financial assistance with essential services, this approach could help families meet their immediate needs, encourage them to seek healthcare services, improve maternal and child health, and build more resilient systems to withstand future emergencies.