Uganda’s cash crackdown on GiveDirectly.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has terminated a $10 million cash transfer program run by GiveDirectly in Uganda, after the government opened an investigation into the COVID-19 response effort and then decided to indefinitely suspend the organization’s operations. The time frame around the probe is unclear, as are its merits. The program launched in August in partnership with the Ugandan government and targeted 120,000 people in six cities, with plans to deliver each of them approximately $27 per month for three months. The use of direct cash transfers has increased dramatically in response to COVID-19 as a means of social protection that can be deployed rapidly to counteract income losses and stave off food insecurity and other harms. This cash transfer program was vetted b...