The aid sector is in crisis. More than 300-million people are in need of humanitarian assistance worldwide. Despite growing needs and neglected crises, humanitarian funding is in sharp decline. Donors and governments of states with crises within their borders face increasingly difficult decisions about what and who to prioritise. The wider humanitarian system is also in flux, with conversations about reform and a ‘humanitarian reset’ ongoing.

The evidence showing that cash is more efficient to deliver than in-kind aid – combined with evidence that it is no more prone to misuse and diversion – has been a key driver behind the expansion of cash in the aid sector over the past 25 years.

In the current climate, the temptation to return to providing humanitarian assistance the way it was provided decades ago should be resisted, in favour of the efficiencies of cash assistance and related technological advances.

Report by the Overseas Development Institute