CALP welcomes new Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher
Dear Mr Fletcher,
The CALP Network: Choice and Dignity for People in Crisis
Congratulations on your appointment. We wish you all the best as you begin your work at this extraordinarily challenging time when, as you say, the humanitarian system is over-stretched, under-funded and under attack.
One of the most significant, and perhaps the biggest, transformations in the humanitarian sector over the last decade has been the scale up of cash and voucher assistance (CVA). In 2023, CVA represented 23% of International Humanitarian Assistance, growing from just 7.9% in 2015. The Grand Bargain and High-Level Panel on Cash were drivers of this scale up and illustrate what can happen when actors come together. Driven by our mission of ensuring choice and dignity for people in crisis, the CALP Network has been a key advocate and supporter of the CVA agenda.
Locking in this progress and maintaining the momentum of the CVA agenda offers significant potential to make the humanitarian system leaner and more efficient. Cash is one of the most cost-efficient ways of meeting humanitarian needs. Evidence shows it could constitute up to 50% of all humanitarian assistance with some studies showing that 18% more people could be reached at no extra cost through the delivery of cash instead of in-kind food. Cash is usually the preferred way that people in crisis want to receive humanitarian assistance, giving them more choice and dignity.
Critically, cash provides a platform for driving further change in the humanitarian system. Digital solutions offer huge scope to put cash directly into the hands of people and communities, improving the speed of humanitarian response and significantly reducing transaction costs. Cash also provides a springboard for empowering local actors not only as ‘deliverers’ of cash but as actors who can ensure the inclusion of the most vulnerable and find solutions to context-specific risks and challenges.
Your predecessor, Martin Griffiths, was a strong supporter of the cash agenda. His leadership ensured, amongst other things, that outcomes of the Grand Bargain Cash Coordination Caucus were implemented to address the decade long challenge of how cash assistance is coordinated across the humanitarian architecture. However, cash coordination remains a challenge – a significant missed opportunity given cash makes up almost a quarter of all humanitarian assistance. UNOCHA (and UNHCR for refugee settings) have a key role to play in addressing this gap but it will require strong leadership and dedicated resourcing.
CALP seeks your support for the Cash Agenda at this critical juncture and stands ready to support you and your team as you tackle the challenges ahead. We are a global network of over 90 organisations including local and international non-governmental organisations, UN agencies, the Red Cross/Crescent Movement, donors, specialist social innovation, technology and financial services companies, researchers and academics. UNOCHA is a member of CALP and a representative on our Technical Advisory Group. Collectively, CALP members deliver the vast majority of humanitarian CVA worldwide. We generate evidence, strengthen coordination and collaboration and invest in capacity and skills development.
We look forward to working with you and your team. At the appropriate point, we would be delighted to meet with you to discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead for the cash agenda as we navigate the difficult times ahead.
Yours sincerely,
Director and Co-Chairs of the CALP Network
Sally Abi Khalil (Middle East and North Africa Director, Oxfam International)
Dr Unni Krishnan (Global Humanitarian Director, Plan International)
Image credit: Hermanos Corallo/ IFRC