Working Group

The Ukraine Cash Working Group (CWG) Technical Working Group met on August 20, 2026, to discuss the current deduplication approach for household assistance. The group proposed two alternative approaches to overcome inconsistent application of the CWG and Building Blocks (BB) recommendations. The emerging preference is to deduplicate individuals using tax IDs, rather than deduplicating the entire household. This approach would be more precise and simpler, removing the need to upload and use the household mapping document. However, concerns were raised about how to deal with individuals without tax IDs, especially children, and the need for further discussion on this issue.

The Hong Kong Government announced that its Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots will begin rolling out a second phase of signature tourism projects this year. The initiative builds on nine successful projects from the first phase and aims to showcase the city’s heritage through new themes. The four projects include: a second phase of the Industrial Brand Tourism Scheme featuring tours of Kowloon Motor Bus depots, an MTR exhibition, and a Beijing Tong Ren Tang research base; a miniature city exhibition at the Peak Tower created by Madame Tussauds; immersive religious and cultural tours that add QR‑coded information to temples; and a seasonal promotion of Yuen Long that will produce maps, a website and themed signage. The rollout is intended to strengthen cross‑departmental coordination and community involvement in tourism development.

During an online meeting on 6 October 2026, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Cash‑Based Interventions Technical Working Group outlined Turkey’s 2026‑27 winter cash‑assistance plan. The response will focus on the 11 provinces still impacted by the February 2023 earthquakes, where residual damage, higher need and concentrated refugee populations remain. Targeting will prioritize households that do not receive the State Social Security Number (SSN) assistance, including persons under temporary or international protection, vulnerable host‑community members, and residents of Temporary Accommodation Centres. The planning target is 52,700 refugees—about 10 % of Syrians in those provinces who are not SSN recipients. Each household will receive a TRY 5,000 base transfer, intended to cover a heating device, plus an additional amount for utilities and non‑food items based on household size. The winterisation period runs from October to April, with the most severe conditions between December and February; partners were urged to deliver assistance promptly and to account for Ramadan falling in February 2027. Ongoing coordination and information sharing are emphasized to prevent duplication and ensure effective targeting.

In a recent meeting, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that Haiti’s Groupe de Travail sur les Transferts Monétaires (GTTM/CWG) has convened more than 30 institutions—including government bodies, financial service providers, UN agencies, and national and international NGOs—to coordinate cash‑for‑work (CFW) interventions. Under the umbrella of the Cash Working Group Haiti, the newly created Cash for Work Technical Working Group (GT CFW) seeks to address the wide variation in approaches, implementation modalities, and transfer values across existing programs. The group’s mandate is to promote harmonized practices and establish common standards, thereby improving the quality, coherence, and effectiveness of CFW activities nationwide.

The Kenya Cash Working Group (KCWG) has announced a new Urban Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI) to track commodity prices, availability and market functionality in Nairobi’s informal settlements. The effort follows the 2023 El Niño‑driven floods that displaced 695,255 people and disrupted transport and markets across both coastal and arid regions. With the Kenya Meteorological Department forecasting above‑average rainfall for the October‑November‑December short‑rains season, regular monitoring will help assess how the influx of rain may affect access to essential goods. The Urban JMMI will generate an updated Urban Market Basket (MEB) cost, enabling humanitarian partners to adjust cash transfer values and target interventions more effectively for low‑income urban populations. The methodology is designed to be scalable to other cities in future rounds.

The Department of Justice has begun a one‑month stakeholder consultation, running until 27 October, on proposed amendments to the Arbitration Ordinance. The initiative, part of Hong Kong’s First Five‑Year Plan and the Chief Executive’s 2026 Policy Address, seeks to keep the city’s arbitration framework aligned with international best practices. The proposals, drawn from a Working Group on Arbitration Law Reform, cover four key areas: speed and convenience, confidentiality, scope, and fairness and justice. The consultation will be distributed to a broad range of stakeholders, including legal bodies, arbitral institutions, banks, and commercial end‑users. After the consultation, the DoJ plans to table an amendment bill in early 2027, aiming to complete the legislative process within the same year.