The speed of the cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development is probably the most significant shock wave to hit the sector since the start of official “Overseas Development Assistance” was classified in 1969. They are part of a wider trend — including cuts from the United Kingdom and many European donors — pushing us all to reevaluate the way forward. […]
Blog - Opinions
Candid thoughts from staff, donors, and recipients on our work and the broader movement towards cash transfers.
Opinions
Direct cash model offers lesson in leadership & humility
When I was put in charge of the UK’s $20 billion global aid budget, it was easy to imagine I had “power.” I was a Secretary of State, appointed by the Queen. I had people working for me all over the world. Every day, I was asked whether I wanted to put $100 million into […]
Opinions, Research
What we make of null and negative results from U.S. cash programs
Yolanda spent some of the monthly cash she receives through GiveDirectly’s program in Cook County, Illinois on a trip to the zoo with her grandson. “It felt good because that payment helps me be able to do those things,” she said. “So I don’t have to say to my grandson, ‘Oh, we can’t do that […]
Opinions
John Cena warns us against giving cash with conditions
A recent Amazon movie includes a scene about cash transfers, which tells an important truth about conditioning cash. “GiveGreen chooses to offer unconditional cash transfers for two reasons. First, empowering poor people to make their own choices – that advances their core value of respect. Second, imposing conditions requires expensive monitoring & enforcement structures that […]
Opinions
Your gift creates dignity for women
Caroline Teti is GiveDirectly’s Director of Safeguarding and Recipient Advocacy. Listen to Caroline narrate her letter: As a woman born in the rural villages of western Kenya, I watched mothers toiling to make life livable for their children, forgoing the basics to give us access to the little they could. It was not uncommon for […]
Opinions
A Global Cash-Transfer Fund Could End Extreme Poverty
Cash transfers offer a transformative solution to multidimensional poverty, by enhancing dozens of outcomes simultaneously. They have already proven effective, adaptable, and replicable, and now they are becoming more attainable every year with growing mobile coverage and improved digital infrastructure. LOMÉ – For decades, the international community has grappled with the challenge of ending extreme […]
Opinions
From California to Kenya: trust people with cash
The following is a guest post from Michael Tubbs, the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and the former Mayor of Stockton, about his recent visit to GiveDirectly cash aid programs in Kenya. I recently had the privilege of traveling to Kenya with GiveDirectly to see firsthand some of the great work they are […]
Opinions
Give more money directly to end extreme poverty
Summary Tuesday marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a U.N. observance to rally support for their number one goal and a good chance to take stock of where that goal stands.1 Poverty can mean many things, but extreme poverty has a specific definition: $2.15 per day. This line, set by the World […]
Opinions
Cash transfers should be the default, not just the benchmark
Cash transfers are one of the most rigorously studied anti-poverty interventions to date and the evidence that they work is overwhelming. You’ve likely seen years’ worth of studies covering the impact of cash on everything from maternal and child mortality to new business creation to violence reduction. The unprecedented scale-up of government cash responses to the COVID-19 pandemic provided even more evidence of its usefulness […]
Opinions
Why we’ve failed to end extreme poverty
As leaders gather this week for the UN General Assembly, they face the most profound failure. The world promised to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030: the UN’s number one goal for a decade and the focus of billions in spending. But we will miss the target by a huge margin. This shouldn’t have happened, and we can do […]