 Is cash a good form of aid? Yes, let me explain you why. I'm Alex, I'm the cash specialist at the International Committee of the Red Cross. As we often say, money makes the world go round. And in a situation affected by conflict, cash can be the lifeline that helps you cope. But how? It gives people the choice to pay for the essential things and services they need. For example, a family needs medicine for their sick daughter, but another needs blankets for the elderly relatives, making aid more tailored to people's needs. So you don't end up with baby food when you don't have a baby. Cash, when carefully planned, can be fast and effective. Often, it takes longer to mobilize resources, like getting huge trucks of aid into remote areas. But with cash, we can send it to people's mobile phones or bank accounts, meaning they get the help they need immediately. Cash also has a positive impact on the local economy, because people are spending money with local businesses and shops. And that means we don't have to fling rice from Indonesia or beans from Brazil. But how does it work? We usually work with banks and post offices to deliver cash to affected people. The way cash is delivered also has to be tailored to the specific context. For example, we use mobile phones in Somalia, local bank branches in Nigeria, ATM cards in Lebanon, and the National Social Protection System in Ukraine. In some places, we also use vouchers or gift cards, and that's also a nice way to support local businesses. So why don't we do this everywhere? Well, cash isn't that helpful if shops are empty or closed. When the things that people need aren't available or are too expensive, we find other ways to help. For example, by bringing food or water ourselves. So is cash a good form of aid? Yes, where possible, and accepted by people and authorities, cash is a very powerful form of aid, because we all want agency on our own lives, especially in war zones. You want to learn more? Like, subscribe, and please submit your questions below.