Humanitarian crises are becoming increasingly complex, with more people in need of support and for longer periods. The international community is in agreement that new approaches are required to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance. When they signed the Grand Bargain, donors and international organizations committed to delivering more resources into the hands of people in need, and to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian action by increasing the use and coordination of cash-based programming.



Cash-based interventions (CBIs) are used by IOM as modalities to deliver assistance that is more dignified and accountable to the needs of beneficiaries. Designed well, CBI can be more cost-efficient than other modalities and allow for better accountability to beneficiaries and donors by supporting the traceability of funds.



As part of its efforts to institutionalize the Grand Bargain commitments, the Department of Operations and Emergencies of IOM established a team dedicated to institutionalizing CBI, including building capacity across the Organization. Such institutional investments have contributed to a 100-per-cent increase in the number of IOM country offices implementing CBI and an increase of 77 per cent in the number of aid recipients since 2019, with 1,624,000 people reached in 2020. This report features case studies from more than 30 countries out of the 56 that implemented CBI in 2020 and shows the broad range of CBI activities within IOM.