​Cash transfer programming raises concerns about a number of risks for corruption or diversion. Providing any sort of resources in conflict environments is risky and one of the risks is that parties to the conflict may divert resources intended for humanitarian purposes and use them to fuel the conflict. This is one of the central dilemmas of humanitarian action – the risks of doing something need to be balanced against the humanitarian imperative to act in the face of avoidable suffering and the risks of doing nothing. Cash doesn’t fundamentally change this dilemma but may present new types of risk and new opportunities for mitigating them.

 

Laura Gordon