121 Platform Twopager
14 September 2026
Migrants travelling through Chad often arrive with little to no money and may stay only briefly before continuing their journey. By speeding up support, the Chad Red Cross is helping them access cash assistance and continue their journey safely.
From supporting hundreds to thousands at high speed
Over the past few years, the Chad Red Cross has steadily expanded its cash programmes, moving from support for a few hundred people to reaching thousands. As the scale increased, the programmes became increasingly difficult to manage. An accelerated approach was needed along migration routes where people rarely stay in one place for long.
To speed up assistance to people on the move, the Chad Red Cross worked with the British Red Cross and the Netherlands Red Cross to integrate the 121 Platform, a digital tool for humanitarian cash assistance, in the process. For mass cash distributions, this digitalisation reduced the time between registration and assistance from 49 to less than 14 days. During one response, the National Society registered 24,000 people and completed cash distributions within 10 days. This initiative is funded by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the British Red Cross, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
“People in transit often arrive with nothing in their pockets. When cash assistance arrives quickly, it helps them buy food, access healthcare, and continue their journey.”
Putting operations in local hands
It was important to ensure that the Chad Red Cross could manage operations independently. Volunteers learn to use 121 within hours, while branch teams manage key activities such as creating individualized cards to identify participants and distributions. Financial Service Provider Express Union is also involved, helping verify recipients and distribute cash securely. This makes local ownership one of the programme’s greatest strengths – building capacities that can be applied across future cash operations.
“The implementation of this system is evidence of the National Society’s digital maturity in cash programming, and a historic step forward in delivering principled humanitarian assistance.”
Listening to communities
To strengthen accountability, the Chad Red Cross integrated a digital community feedback management system in their cash programming that helps teams collect, analyse and respond to feedback, ensuring that no community voice goes unheard.
Two programme participants share their stories:
“I used to live peacefully with my family in Sudan, until the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023. In one day, my life took a turn for the worse. Today, the Chad Red Cross restored my dignity and gave me reason to believe that there is still hope. I was registered by volunteers three days ago, and this morning I already received money to buy food. I would like to thank the Chad Red Cross for responding so quickly to my needs.”
“I am a husband, a father, and a migrant from Sudan. My aim is to get to Libya, where I have friends and job opportunities. I was registered by Chad Red Cross volunteers on Tuesday, and on Thursday morning, I was invited to collect my voucher to help provide food for my family. The Chad Red Cross has always welcomed us warmly.”
Connectivity remains a challenge in some areas, but offline data collection and dedicated support at Humanitarian Service Points help ensure programmes can continue even in those environments.
Better together
The programme tells a story of collaboration. It brought together the Chad Red Cross’ operational presence with migrant communities, the British Red Cross’ expertise in cash programming, and the Netherlands Red Cross’ data and digital capabilities. Together, the partners created a model that remains firmly rooted within the Chad Red Cross itself, and rapidly supports vulnerable populations.
“Together, we were able to operate as one team while combining local implementation capacity, cash programming expertise and digital innovation.”
As the Chad Red Cross expands these tools, the experience offers valuable lessons for National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: digital tools can reduce response times, strengthen transparency and improve data quality. But technology alone is not enough. Investments in locally led action and strong partnerships remain essential to delivering people-centred assistance at scale.
