Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) with the support of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Zaatari Refugee Camp unveil the Common Distribution Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (CDCHA). The new facility will utilize IRIS scan technology and serve as a common platform for cash distributions and the provision of essential humanitarian items in the camp.

Built upon an existing Distribution Centre established during the initial emergency phase of humanitarian operations in Zaatari in 2013 to support the provision of basic household items, clothing, seasonal non-food item, as well as one-off in kind distributions, the new centre; open to all humanitarian partners in the Camp, will accommodate simultaneous distributions while offering improved services to Syrian refugees.

The use of IRIS scan technology, a global first for the distribution of humanitarian assistance, is integrated within UNHCR’s registration system, providing a common platform for monitoring payments to beneficiaries, while supporting the verification and authentication of individuals. Together with the provision of cash and in-kind assistance, the technology will integrate Cash for Work payments provided to some 6,500 refugees engaged by humanitarian partners in a variety of community based activities in the camp. The CDCHA’s ability to run parallel distributions of cash, vouchers and core relief items ensures that Syrian refugees in the camp can receive timely access to basic humanitarian assistance. The facility includes additional shaded waiting areas, WASH facilities, ramps that allow access for all, together with a space where refugees can receive information as well as provide feedback on the service they receive.

Reflecting upon the opening of the new Centre, which coincided with a camp-wide cash distribution for the purchase of household fuel for families, Hovig Etyemezian, UNHCR’s Zaatari Camp Manager noted: "The Common Distribution Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (CDCHA), which utilizes Iris authentication technology, represents a major innovation within a refugee camp, enhancing the transparency efficiency and cost effectiveness of humanitarian operations.

The CDCHA is an inter-agency platform which will help all humanitarian partners deliver adequate in kind and cash assistance and pay refugee volunteers under the cash for work scheme.

Finally, the transition toward cash-based-models of assistance provides a greater degree of dignity and choice for families seeking to respond to their daily household needs.

Richard Evans, NRC’s Shelter Project Manager also noted: "The new facility will allow Syrian refugees to access improved distribution services and ensure that we are able to help the most vulnerable through the distribution process. More than 17,000 thousand Syrian refugee households need to pass through the site during camp-wide distributions and we need to ensure that they can do this with dignity and in safety."