IOM: Cash-based Interventions and Mobility: A Review of Current Approaches

December 2025

Over the past decade, the use of cash-based modalities has become a mainstream approach to delivering aid, valued for its cost-effectiveness, flexibility and the choice it provides for recipients. While the use of cash-based interventions (CBI) to support refugees and internally displaced people is not new, its application in migration contexts remains uneven. Practitioners continue to face challenges in securing funding and adapting CBI modalities to the diverse needs and constraints of migrants. 

This report, commissioned by IOM and written by Samuel Hall, consolidates the state of knowledge on CBI for migrants. It identifies barriers, enablers and good practices that can be scaled up and replicated. Through interviews with cash and migration experts, as well as humanitarian and private sector actors across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, the report explores how CBI can be integrated in humanitarian and protection responses. 

The report highlights the importance of understanding mobility, context and programme design to ensure effective support for migrants. It also provides key recommendations for building partnerships, strengthening systems and enhancing institutional capacity to scale up the use of CBI in complementarity with other modalities. This publication is essential for practitioners, policymakers and stakeholders involved in migration and humanitarian assistance. 

Read full report here