Is Unrestricted Cash and Voucher Assistance in Humanitarian Response a Radical Act?

Cash and voucher assistance has grown from carefully designed pilot projects as alternatives to food aid. However, some see this as radical as it challenges the status quo of the humanitarian architecture.

According to the State of the World’s Cash report in 2020, published by the Cash and Learning Partnership (CaLP), Cash and Voucher Assistance has doubled globally since 2016 from $2.8 to 5.6 billion US dollars.

What are the implications of Cash and Voucher Assistance at this scale on the humanitarian architecture?

What does it demand from the humanitarian community?

What mechanisms are in place to ensure that it reaches those that need it most?

Floor Grootenhuis has twenty two years of experience working with UN organizations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including UNFAO and UNWFP, along with NGOs such as Action Against Hunger, Save the Children, Oxfam, Cash Learning Partnership, and the International Federation of the Red Cross. She has been one of the pioneers of cash and voucher assistance and continues to support this work and discusses the practice of unrestricted CVA as a radical act during this Zoom.