Accessible mobile cash transfer ensures humanitarian aid for persons with disabilities

CBM's 2020 inclusive mobile cash programme used bKash after Cyclone Amphan to reach 3,198 households, including 1,120 with disabilities. 78% accessed formal financial services for the first time. Households received disability top-ups; average cost €60; funded €192,000.

Headquartered in German, CBM is an international NGO that promotes inclusive development cooperation. Its inclusive mobile cash transfer programme combines accessible technology working with mobile, tailored support provided by local DPOs, and additional cash support for evidence-based disability-related costs. Launched in 2020 in response to Cyclone Amphan in Bangladesh, the programme has provided multipurpose cash assistance to more than 3,000 affected households, a third of which include persons with disabilities.

Problems Targeted

Due to multiple barriers and accessibility issues, persons with disabilities are often excluded from cash support and registration systems during emergencies.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

CBM launched the programme in 2020 after Cyclone Amphan had hit Bangladesh, providing cash assistance to households via bKash, a popular money platform working on mobile phones. As part of the programme, additional cash assistance was provided for disability-related costs such as medicine and repair of assistive devices. Access barriers were addressed by conducting an inclusive rapid needs assessment, offering SIM cards and personalized assistance, provided by local OPDs. As a result, 3,198 cyclone-affected households, including 1,120 households with persons with disabilities, received cash support, with 78 percent reporting first-time access to financial services as a result. Further, 684 of these households received additional cash support. By 2025 replication toolkits, including a guide to calculate disability-related extra costs, had been shared with other countries for use in their humanitarian programming.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The programme in 2020 was funded with €192,000 raised by CBM through a dedicated humanitarian appeal in Germany, with most funds allocated to direct cash transfers. The concept of cash assistance that is ensured to also reach persons with disabilities, in combination with a top-up amount for their additional needs, has been replicated in Bangladesh following the flooding in 2022 and in emergencies in Cameroon (2024–2025) and in Ethiopia (2025–2026). (#ZeroCall26)

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