This article originally appears on Conrad N. Hilton Foundation website here: https://www.hiltonfoundation.org/news/making-the-case-for-locally-led-cash-again/
22 October 2025
by Barri Shorey, Senior, Senior Program Officer, Refugees, Disasters and Aviation
Photo credit Hilton Foundation website. Caption: (From left to right): Cate Turton, Director, CALP; Jan Egeland, Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council; Loreine dela Cruz, Executive Director, Center for Disaster Preparedness and NEAR network member; Barri Shorey, Senior Program Officer Refugees initiative and Disasters; Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Vice President for Global Policy and Advocacy, Mercy Corps; Alice Armanni Sequi, Chief, OCHA Pooled Fund Management Branch; Tara Soomro, Ambassador to ECOSOC, UK FCDO.
The Urgency of Centering Locally Led Cash Assistance in Humanitarian Response
The humanitarian sector has been making the case for cash aid for decades. Civil servants, researchers, international non-government organizations (INGOs) and local communities have built credible evidence to show the efficiency and effectiveness of direct cash assistance. But this time, the case we’re making is concerted and urgent. If the humanitarian system as we know it is to reset, then there has never been a better time to center locally led cash.
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Evidence-Based Cash Aid: Efficiency Through Local Action
Cash is more efficient and effective, especially when it is locally led. With Official Development Assistance slashed, there is increasing pressure for funders and nonprofits to do more with less. Where philanthropy likes to be innovative and catalytic in their approach, the research shows the best steward in crisis is cash.
In 2023, cash assistance made up 85% of humanitarian funding delivered by U.N. agencies and INGOs—a clear sign the development sector recognizes its value. Yet national and local actors, who are closest to the crises, received just 2% of that funding.
Through our Disaster Relief and Recovery program, we support NEAR’s Change Fund, and through our Partnerships team, we fund their Localisation Labs. Both initiatives are designed to shift power and resources to local responders—those best positioned to act quickly and effectively in times of crisis. The Change Fund has built an impressive track record, with local organizations leading response and recovery efforts in some of the world’s most complex emergencies. You can explore their stories on NEAR’s blog—most recently, Local responders lead recovery after Cyclone Remal and floods in Bangladesh by Falastin Omar.
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