Report Released: Evaluation of Unintended Consequences of Malawi’s COVID-19 Urban Cash Intervention

In January 2025, the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) announced the release of the report on the country-led evaluation of Malawi's COVID-19 Urban Cash Intervention (CUCI), a program that was designed to reduce the adverse effects of the pandemic on Malawi's urban poor populations.
The evaluation examined the unintended consequences of the cash transfers provided to more than 300,000 households in Blantyre, Zoma, Mzuzu, and Malawi's capital, Lilongwe.
Key findings from the evaluation revealed that the cash transfers improved household dynamics and reduced intimate partner violence; increased investments in small businesses and decreased reliance on casual labor; and led to more participation in village savings and loan groups. The evaluation also revealed that the digital cash transfers did not boost the use of mobile money services.
"It is our hope that this evaluation will contribute to informing the design and implementation of current and future interventions on social protection in Malawi," said Sophie Kang’oma, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Malawi Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, during the dissemination of the evaluation findings in May 2024. "Evaluation that lacks utilization is the same as the cloud without rain."
The CUCI evaluation was part of a broader initiative spearheaded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s COVID-19 Global Evaluation Coalition, which helps governments assess their response to the COVID-19 pandemic to improve preparedness for future health crises.
The Malawi Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs carried out the evaluation, with technical and financial support from the World Bank in Malawi, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results for Anglophone Africa, and GEI.
Read the full report.