Editor’s Note: Devex is exploring the evolution of cash transfers in the aid sector. Here, we explore the EU’s vision for more coordinated cash programming. Read also: Aid agencies mull legal risks of coordinating humanitarian cash
LONDON — Almost a year after floating a drastic new approach to coordinating humanitarian cash transfers, the European Union’s humanitarian arm ECHO is running a market assessment to find out whether the controversial scheme could work in practice.
Though humanitarian agencies broadly agree that there needs to be more coordination between the dozens of organizations who deliver hundreds of millions of euros of ECHO funding annually in cash transfers, many are already predicting roadblocks in the proposed system.