Donor Perspectives on Cash and the Common Donor Approach (2025)

[0:09]What do donors really think of Cash and Voucher Assistance? STC wants its partner to use CVA whenever it's the best modality to do the job, the best modality to cover basic needs of people affected by crisis. Ideally, CVA is taken as a benchmark for cost efficiency. Indeed Echo, uh, we consider cash as an important modality of humanitarian response. Because it puts the beneficiaries as the center of the gravity of the response. You can address a number of needs at the same time, and so it gives the choice, dignity and agency to the beneficiary. The Common Donor Approach 2025, or the CDA for short, is the shared framework from major humanitarian donors. It shows their continuing commitment to cash and it sets out what they expect from partners like you. It is endorsed by donors from around the world. The Common Donor Approach to humanitarian cash assistance provides a common platform for donors to collectively advocate for and invest in principled, people-centered, and locally led cash responses. Cash works. It works well. That's why it's a pillar of the humanitarian reset. But with tight budgets, donors want to fund cash programs that are smart, evidence-based, and locally led. The CDA provides guidelines in these areas. It provides a joint approach, lighting out expectations as well as guidelines for what we consider quality cash assistance. It's a shared vision with operational priorities to first of all, strengthen coherence, but also efficiency and effectiveness. The Common Donor approach provides a framework to bridge the gap between policy level as well as implementation level to support effective programming and the work that is done on the ground. to assist those people that who are in need. Donors are still on board. The Common Donor approach is your guide. Use it to build better programs and secure the support that you need. We want humanitarian actors to actively use the CDA in their strategies and program design and to challenge assumptions wherever needed. It's a tool for both internal and external advocacy. The CDA isn't just a political statement, it's practical. By aligning with it, agencies can be confident they're meeting shared donor expectations rather than navigating multiple, sometimes conflicting demands. This isn't just another donor policy. The CDA 2025 is a tool and a chance to help us to get CVA right, even in harder times. Let's not lose the progress that we've made. Take a look at The Common Donor Approach 2025 today.