How fast is cash assistance growing?

The amount spent on humanitarian aid in the form of vouchers and cash rose sharply in 2022, to $10 billion — more than one-fifth of all aid distributed — according to a report published Wednesday. The State of the World’s Cash report found that around $7.9 billion of that cash and voucher assistance, or CVA, reached recipients, with the rest spent on overhead costs. The report, produced by the CALP Network, whose almost 100 members deliver the vast majority of cash aid around the world, said much of the 41% jump was due to a growth in overall spending on humanitarian aid, which increased from $38.4 billion in 2021 to $47 billion in 2022. Cash did grow substantially as a proportion of aid, from 17.3% of aid in 2021, to 20.6% of all aid in 2022. The amount of aid delivered in cash has risen relatively consistently since 2017 — the point at which CALP began collecting data — when it was 13.7% of all aid. Karen Peachey, director of CALP, said at the launch of the report that there was still scope for considerable growth in the amount of aid that could be delivered through cash — potentially up to half of the aid delivered in 2022. The report highlighted several continuing challenges with the delivery of aid through cash. Peachey said it remained important to continue to innovate. She said the report found that sometimes, “overly technical processes and approaches” meant implementers lost sight of what crisis-affected people wanted. “We often expect people in crisis to adapt to our systems and ways of working rather than us meeting them where they are,” she said. She also highlighted a need to work on system design and technology, both to avoid built-in bias in deciding who receives aid and to ensure that individuals are protected from cyberthreats. A key theme, not just for Peachey but also for other speakers at the event, was the need to redesign how cash was delivered to make it more efficient. A new “cash coordination” model to help clarify the role of different U.N. agencies in the delivery of cash aid was agreed to last year, but Peachey stressed the need for further structural reform in how cash was delivered, including a move toward more local leadership when delivering cash assistance. Jemilah Mahmood, a Malaysian doctor and academic, who also spoke at the launch, said that one of the things holding back the progress of cash was infighting among delivery agencies. “If you want to advance CVA, then the agencies have to stop squabbling,” she said. “The veneer of mature debate on CVA belies the ugly fights over market share. And I have the scars and bruises of being part of that process, so I know it’s real. Instead of looking at how you grow the pie, people are focusing on how you divide the pie.” The launch also featured an impassioned attack on the wider aid system by Rory Stewart, a former U.K. aid leader and special adviser to GiveDirectly, which provides cash support primarily in development settings. Stewart said unlike in the humanitarian world, only 3% of development funding is delivered in cash, and that the reluctance to increase this amount is down to skepticism and fear from vested interests such as lawmakers, donors, and INGOs.