SDC and Cash

​Swiss Humanitarian Aid is a pioneer in using cash and voucher assistance (CVA) in humanitarian assistance. While it is only in the last fifteen years that the use of the modality has significantly increased in global humanitarian responses, the SDC has been using cash assistance since the late 1990s. The SDC started to use cash transfers in response to the humanitarian crises in Kosovo in 1999 as one of the first actors implementing CVA in humanitarian response. At the time, the SDC was considered one of the few donors “showing early support" for the use of CVA. Ever since then, the SDC has been a strong advocate for CVA and has mainly engaged in four ways:

• Donor: SDC has been financing partners using CVA since the 1990s. Providing flexible core funding to its main partners gives them the opportunity to choose the most adequate transfer modality for each project. Furthermore, the SDC has been a supporter of CaLP and Cash-Cap, two organisations specialised in CVA. Through its active engagement in international working groups (CaLP's Technical Advisory Group, Grand Bargain Cash Workstreams, and others) SDC is actively engaged in technical and policy discussions around CVA.

• Operational agency: SDC has been using cash transfers in its self-implemented projects since 1998. The duration of these projects has ranged from several weeks up to six years. In 2019, 20 years after its first CVA project, the SDC implemented an Emergency Cash Pilot for earthquake-affected households in Bubq, Albania, delivering cash assistance 8 days after the natural disaster.  Furthermore, thanks to its great technical expertise and expert groups, the SDC has extensive experience in sector-specific cash, e.g. cash for shelter rehabilitation.

• Secondments: Since 2009, the SDC has been sharing its expertise by supporting partner organisations through secondments of its cash experts. The SDC currently has a pool of approx. 40 cash experts and 30 senior cash experts with solid experience and ready for deployment. Since 2009, the SDC has seconded 46 cash experts in over 90 secondments to the WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNRWA, UNFPA, IOM, ICRC, IFRC, Swiss Red Cross, Helvetas, Caritas, CaLP and local actors.

• Advocacy: The SDC plays an active role in global discussions on CVA aimed at ensuring that partner organisations' CVA capacity is built up and that CVA becomes a response option that is systematically considered. The SDC has been actively involved in the Grand Bargain cash workstream since its launch in 2016. It was a member of CaLP's Board since its establishment in 2016 until 2020. Switzerland is also co-initiator of the Donor Cash Forum.

The SDC's experience in CVA is highly recognised and appreciated internationally. It evolved from being a pioneer in using CVA to being an active operational actor, a recognised UN standby partner, and a strong promoter of and advocate for CVA.​