01 May 2019

Much has been said about cash aid (I use this as a far from perfect shorthand for delivering cash and voucher assistance). Is it really a game changer for the humanitarian system or just hype? Will humanitarian aid in 2030 be marked by a shift away from delivery of relief in-kind to digital transfers of money? Will financial service providers become some of our main operational partners in the future?

25 February 2019

[...] The promises of digital and biometric identification systems also provide opportunity to transform the work of aid agencies working with refugee and migrant communities. With the right systems in place, aid distribution can be streamlined, and made more transparent and effective. But such a profound transformation requires the co-operation of many actors, the right digital architecture, and investment in vast databases. There are several hurdles standing in the way of this utopian future, but that shouldn’t stop its development.

21 February 2019

We would like to invite private companies, social enterprises, and other institutions to engage in a dialogue process and discuss the problems related to identities we see in the humanitarian space, and to understand concrete ways on how they could be solved using available technologies and know-how.

16 May 2018

The cash delegate register is now accepting applications until the 5th of June 2019, and its selecting its members based on four main profiles. All those selected, if deployed, will engage with a wide range of stakeholders internal and external (local government, communities, other humanitarian actors, donors, etc.) to ensure coordination, harmonisation and accountability, as well as to support the host National Society to improve its capacity in assessment and the design of timely, scalable and quality cash responses.

19 March 2018

Representatives from British Overseas Territories are meeting in the Territory this week to prepare, design and implement cash-based response for emergencies. The three-day workshop titled, the Collaborative Cash Programming in Shock Responsive Social Protection will address and apply lessons learnt from the Joint Cash Platform operation also known as the Financial Assistance Programme in the British Virgin Islands.

23 January 2018

I have just come back from Lebanon and have seen first-hand how Syrian refugees there are struggling. More than a million Syrians refugees now live in Lebanon.