Cash-based responses in emergencies

People need money. In an emergency, it may sometimes be quicker and more appropriate to give them money rather than things. If they need food, shelter materials, seeds, tools, blankets or whatever - provided those things are available on the market or soon could be - cash handouts will give people access to them.

Any emergency assessment should consider whether cash is appropriate to meet some of the needs. It is unlikely to meet them all. There are several issues to consider when weighing cash against the distribution of goods, including:

• Cost-effectiveness
• Security risks
• Corruption risks
• Who will be empowered and who might be disempowered? In particular, will women be advantaged or disadvantaged?
• Choice, flexibility and dignity (Cash allows recipients to decide what they will spend the money on. Usually, no aid agency assessment will be as good as individuals deciding for themselves.)
• Market impacts
• Targeting the most appropriate recipients
• Skills and capacities for distribution

Don't underestimate the logistic and bureaucratic challenges of providing goods. Aid managers often find themselves almost overwhelmed by logistics, and goods therefore often arrive too late to be of really effective use during the emergency. Even so, there are times when cash is inappropriate and goods must be provided if people are to survive and rebuild their lives and livelihoods.