The need to develop cash guidelines for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was identified at a seminar hosted by the International Federation's secretariat inMay 2006. The International Federation's Disaster Preparedness and Relief Commission endorsed the outcomes of the seminar in 2006, in particular the need to normalize the use of cash in multi-sectoral integrated programming, planning and disaster preparedness, and to help build capacity on how to start cash programmes. Building on the broad range of cash experiences within the Movement and in the humanitarian sector, these guidelines provide practical, step-by-step suppor to the design and implementation of cash programmes.