USAID GIVEDIRECTLY I JUNE MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT

The program provides digital unconditional cash transfers delivered through mobile money to support micro-entrepreneurs, market traders, smallholder farmers, and the rural poor. The overarching goal is to protect the value of assets and avoid increases in debt by providing smaller, regular cash transfers that provide an alternative means of meeting basic needs. During the reporting period from May 15 to June 15, 2021, GiveDirectly scaled up field verification activities by shifting focus to in-person door-to-door enrollment at the village level to meet overall program targets. To date, GiveDirectly has sent 100,994 payments to 48,444 verified recipients, sending 782 million Liberian dollars directly to vulnerable Liberians. Follow-up data indicates that an estimated 23% of recipients paid to date are market traders or microentrepreneurs, 74.5% are smallholder farmers, 64.7% are women, and 12.5% are youth. The most common expenditure among recipients is buying things for an existing business (54.6% of recipients), followed by education for someone else (29.4%) and food (26.2%). 7.8% of surveyed recipients reported spending on agricultural inputs, 6.1% reported starting a new business, and 4.7% have added to their savings. The percentage of recipients that report successfully receiving their transfers has increased from 97.8% reported last month to 100%. GiveDirectly has identified and verified 67,980 recipients to date and is continuing to run both phone-based and field verification processes on potential recipients. The organization has sent 782,703,500 Liberian dollars to 48,444 verified recipients so far. In-person verification activities have shifted to door-to-door enrollment at the village level to meet overall program targets. Villages were selected for in-person enrollment through a randomized selection from a subset of viable villages that aligned with the program's target recipient base. A potential case of staff misconduct was brought forward by a member of the enrollment team assigned to Nimba County. Initial investigations revealed that the Associate Field Manager (AFM) failed to disclose his previously having lived in the community being enrolled and a personal connection to the recipient in question as required by GiveDirectly's Conflict of Interest policy. The investigation is ongoing with the accused being asked to respond to the initial findings and a full internal investigation to be conducted. The Unconditional Cash Transfer Activity has made significant progress in addressing the economic crisis faced by vulnerable Liberians. The program has provided support to micro-entrepreneurs, market traders, smallholder farmers, and the rural poor, and has seen an increase in the percentage of recipients that report successfully receiving their transfers. However, a potential case of staff misconduct has been brought forward, and an investigation is ongoing.