Funding to local responders: cash vs in-kind

We want cash; we want to feel as human beings and not humiliated all the time​

Refugee, Syria​

The Humanitarian Economy

The Humanitarian Economy

Funding to local responders: cash versus in-kind

At the World Humanitarian Summit 21 governments and 27 aid organizations, networks and alliances endorsed the Grand Bargain, which includes a commitment to provide at least 25% funding to national and local responders “as directly as possible”.

Little attention has been paid to the question whether in-kind transfers should be included in this funding target. This Local2Global briefing note provides data and analysis for both current levels of cash-grants and transfers in-kind to local and national actors in 2014.

Based on data of CERF sub-grants, it is demonstrated that UN agencies’ cash-grants to local actors ranged between 4 and 22% in 2014. If in-kind transfers were to be considered “funding”, six out of the seven studied UN agencies’ transfers to local actors were above 30%, therefore individually achieving the global, aggregated funding target of the Grand Bargain already in 2014.


Read the briefing note (English)


Read the briefing note (English)