Cash and Voucher Assistance

While they operate differently—with cash transfers providing broad flexibility and vouchers ensuring focused support—both aim to deliver efficient and effective aid that empowers recipients and meets their immediate needs during crises.

However, this usage often caused confusion, as it didn't distinctly differentiate between the two, despite their differing operational methodologies and impacts.Cash transfers generally provide recipients with direct financial resources, offering them the autonomy to address their diverse and immediate needs.

These are often closely aligned with sectoral objectives within humanitarian clusters such as health, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), or shelter, and are tailored to address specific needs in these areas.

This distinction ensures that both cash transfers and vouchers are used effectively to meet the varied needs of affected populations, making humanitarian responses more efficient and targeted.

In common humanitarian terminology, these are distinct from the immediate and direct support characteristic of CVA, which is targeted at addressing the critical needs of individuals and communities in the throes of a crisis.

[9] However in international humanitarian aid, the traditional approach to emergency relief has tended to be the provision of in-kind assistance.

[19] In 2020, CALP, a nonprofit membership organization concerned with capacity building in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance, has issued two 'state of CVA' reports, most recently in 2020.

[22] The Council of the European Union in 2015 endorsed the use of cash transfers, finding "significant scope for increasing the use of multi-purpose cash-based assistance in humanitarian responses, depending on the context".