The State of the World’s Cash Report: Cash Transfer Programming in Humanitarian Aid

In recent years, the use of cash transfer programming (CTP) in humanitarian assistance has grown significantly.

In 2016, we estimate that $2.8bn in humanitarian assistance was disbursed through cash and vouchers, up 40% from 2015 and approximately 100% from 2014. As this report describes, the move to CTP has strong roots and is set to continue. CTP is widely recognised as one of the most significant areas of innovation in humanitarian assistance, with huge potential to meet more needs, more efficiently and more effectively.

This has never been more vital. The gap between humanitarian needs and available funding has increased to over 40% . In recognition of CTP’s potential, many humanitarian actors, through the Grand Bargain and independently, have made public commitments to increase its use. These political commitments are welcome. But, they are not enough on their own. Despite the significant increase in CTP, it accounted for only 10% of humanitarian assistance in 2016, up by 2.5% from 2015.6 Realizing the transformative potential of CTP requires significant changes to established ways of working within institutions and collectively.

The change process is already under way. This report identifies specific steps that have already been taken, good practices to learn from and the priority actions necessary to accelerate progress. For example, donors, coordinating bodies and implementing agencies are actively integrating CTP into humanitarian programming.