Act Early, Act Together, Empower People - Lessons Learned from Anticipatory Cash Through OCHA's Pooled Funds

Summary

Climate-related disasters are now more frequent and severe, but the financial resources to respond to these disasters are more stretched than ever. The question is no longer whether to act early, but how to do so more effectively.

Giving people cash ahead of a disaster (anticipatory cash) via pooled funds is one of the most effective ways to help them mitigate the disaster’s impact. They can act quickly, buy food or medicine, secure valuables, fix shelter or evacuate. Cash gives people decision-making power, improves food security, reduces harmful coping strategies and enables faster recovery.

Cash was used in every activated OCHA-coordinated anticipatory action framework in 2024, accounting for 42 per cent (US$8.3 million) of the $19.6 million disbursed by the Central Emergency Response Fund to partners. Most of the cash was multipurpose, giving people maximum flexibility to choose the best way to meet their own needs.

Tom Fletcher, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, explained: “Anticipatory cash delivers what the Humanitarian Reset promises: provide aid when it counts, dignity for people, and maximum impact for every dollar. It works, and OCHA’s pooled funds are the most strategic way to scale it.”

This case study draws on years of OCHA’s experience in facilitating and financing anticipatory cash and the lessons learned. The evidence is clear: the most effective way to help people prepare for and withstand disasters is to provide cash with complementary in-kind assistance, delivered through coordinated joint frameworks and aligned with national systems wherever possible.

As Dr. Ina Heusgen, Director for Humanitarian Assistance, Germany Federal Foreign Office, said: “Germany supports OCHA's pooled funds because they deliver on what matters: speed, scale, coordination and impact. Anticipatory cash reaches people before disaster hits and helps them recover faster. For us, this is about fulfilling our Grand Bargain commitments and ensuring we have the transparency we need to demonstrate to our taxpayers that every euro is used in the most effective way possible.”