The Importance of Cash and Voucher Assistance During a Humanitarian Crisis. Is cash and Voucher Assistance Appropriate for Effective Humanitarian Disaster Management?!

The first wide-reaching use of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) took place in the mid-1990s and shortly began substituting the traditional kind of humanitarian in-kind assistance. The shift from food and other in-kind humanitarian aid to cash and voucher-based assistance is one of the defining humanitarian trends of the last 10 years. Currently, the use of cash and voucher as a modality is widely recognized as the most efficient and effective way of delivering humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflicts or disasters, whenever it’s possible and appropriate. CVA is recognized to be successful in reaching project objectives, in addition to offering greater choice to beneficiaries and helping to foster dignity in the receipt of assistance. On top of its flexibility and dignity benefits, such an approach is perceived to be cost-effective, decreasing transaction costs, allowing beneficiaries to tailor their resources to priorities they consider important to them as well as stimulating local markets towards recovery. The potential risks should be taken into consideration such as the negative impact on markets and local economies, targeting errors, corruption and security risks, etc. What is more, the rapid development of digital technology and assistance mechanisms is changing the face of humanitarian assistance - CVA actors are facing growing opportunities as well as risks related to digital technology, namely beneficiary data protection, interoperability, and digital literacy. On December 1, 2022, “Global Humanitarian Overview 2023” was launched by United Nations (UN), and it revealed that record-breaking needs are required to be addressed – “one in every 23 people now needs humanitarian assistance” - it is assumed that 339 million people will be in need of assistance in 69 countries, which makes an increase of 65 million people compared to the same period of the previous year. The UN and partner organizations aim to address the needs of the most vulnerable 230 million people across 69 countries, the estimated cost of the humanitarian response is going to be $51.5 billion, which is 25% more than last year’s amount; However, the funding gap has never been wider, as for the mid-November 2022, the donors furnished $24 billion in funding; nevertheless, the needs are rising faster. It’s obvious that sustainable development goal #1: No Poverty by 2030 is no longer achievable. Cost-efficient and effective planning of humanitarian aid programs has never been this crucial. Despite this expansion of CVA in the humanitarian context at the global level, there is still a lack of exhaustive understanding as to when, where, and how it can be delivered to beneficiaries in the best possible way. In the following analytical paper, I’ll examine what is CVA, when and where it is relevant to use CVA in responding to humanitarian emergencies, what are the consequent risks and how to contextualize it to leverage different outcomes and impact.