Description of project

DARA, in cooperation with Indevelop and GRM International, carried out a study on value for money in the humanitarian sector for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and one of its long-standing partners in contexts strained by armed conflicts, the International Committee if the Red Cross (ICRC).

This collaborative study was designed to support the ongoing bilateral dialogue by improving Sida’s understanding of the ICRC, assessing the quality and cost of their activities while, at the same time, helping to advance ICRC’s results-based management (RBM) agenda. The study serves as a good starting point to improve the understanding of how value for money (VFM) concepts may apply to other humanitarian partners.

The study proposes a VFM definition and a model for the humanitarian sector, together with relevant tools and guidance, while highlighting key potential risks to be addressed. The study’s Steering Group prioritised a joint recommendation to both Sida and the ICRC to further refine and use a matrix tool based on VFM to facilitate strategic dialogue between the two organisations, along with other ICRC recommendations – that the ICRC should more clearly communicate their comparative advantage and also test financial systems to more efficiently support profit-based methods while helping to improve understanding of VFM.

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