Somalia & Somaliland
Trends and analysis report
January to March 2025
This report is written by the Talk to Loop Global and the Somalia & Somaliland team, with ongoing insights and support from our national host, Raagsan. Their expertise in the Somali context, helps ensure the platform is appropriately contextualised. This report reflects that collaboration.
To download the full report click here.
After receiving 39,000 calls from January 1st 2025 to March 31st, Loop processed and published 1,515 pieces of open feedback which represents a 70% increase from Q4 2024 (888) and a 160% increase from Q1 2024 (580). This significant rise in community uptake can be attributed to growing trust in Loop by organisations who are actively promoting Loop amongst the communities they serve, as well as strong word of mouth sharing about Loop, especially when an author has received a positive experience.
Overall, there is an increase in feedback in most regions. Loop’s Voice channel is available in five languages/dialects across Somalia/Somaliland: Maxaatiri, Maay, Benadiri, Bajuuni, and Barawani Chimini (the most recent addition). However, usage remains heavily skewed, with Maxaatiri accounting for 82% of feedback.
Overall the feedback on Loop, when age is disclosed by authors, represents the national age distribution. With younger people asking for assistance and cash and older people looking for support with health issues and support to care for others. Chronic health conditions like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and mobility impairments are widespread, with many unable to afford medical care—some even describing untreated infections or injuries. The elderly also appear to bear the burden of caring for orphaned grandchildren or large families.
Women are more likely to report protection cases, while men are more likely to report fraud or corruption issues.
Of the total users in Q1 2025, 51 individuals reported being caregivers for People Living with Disabilities (PLWD). Amongst these caregivers, 67% (34) were female, while 31% (16) were male. This contrasts with the overall female usage of Loop (34%) during the same period, indicating that women disproportionately shoulder caregiving responsibilities for PLWD.
Requests for Assistance (93%) continues to dominate community feedback received in Somalia. Amongst the most pressing concerns, climate-related issues (16%), including primarily droughts but also flooding, have significantly impacted livelihoods, particularly in rural areas (67%) such as in Bakool, Gedo, parts of Middle Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Sool- where food insecurity and water shortages are worsening. Displacement remains a critical issue, with communities in IDP camps (18%) in Mogadishu, Baydhabo, Kismayo, Dollow and areas with high displacement such as in Gedo, Hiran, Lower Shabelle citing lack of aid (6%) as a major challenge. Additionally, clan conflict has been reported as a driver of displacement and insecurity, particularly in Banaadir and Lower Shabelle, further straining access to aid. Reports of marginalisation also highlight the exclusion of vulnerable groups, including PLWDs and minority communities, from aid distributions, reflecting ongoing gaps in equitable aid distribution. 15% of the feedback was reported in urban areas, which emphasises the disproportionate impact of crises on displaced and remote communities.
Requests for cash assistance (46%) were highest in Bay (26%) and Banaadir (22%), particularly in Baydhabo and Mogadishu, where food insecurity, displacement, and urban poverty are major concerns. Other regions with significant cash requests include Woqooyi Galbeed (7%), Gedo (7%), and Middle Shabelle (7%), with needs concentrated in Hargeisa, Baardheere, and Luuq. People requested cash primarily to buy food, pay medical expenses, cover rent, restart livelihoods, and support education costs. In IDP settlements and rural areas, cash requests were linked to shelter and survival needs, while in urban centres like Mogadishu and Hargeisa, they were driven by high living costs and business recovery efforts.
Food insecurity remains one of the most pressing concerns driving requests from communities (20%), with the highest number of requests coming from Banaadir (38%), particularly in Mogadishu, where urban poor and displaced communities struggle with limited access to food.
During this reporting period, Loop handled 174 sensitive reports, a 98% increase from the 88 received in the previous cycle. This sharp rise was particularly notable in protection-related reports, which became the dominant category of sensitive feedback. While the previous period was primarily marked by fraud, corruption, and service-level complaints, this period saw protection cases emerge as most reported concerns.
Of the total reports handled, 89 were related to protection issues. These were further broken down as follows: 36 reports concerned child protection, 35 were related to GBV, 10 related to general protection, 5 involved MHPSS concerns, and 3 were categorized as discrimination.
This reporting period was marked by a reduction in funding due to the US stop work orders, which significantly impacted humanitarian assistance across Somalia and Somaliland, particularly in the protection sector. As a result, it took a lot longer to research and identify organisations still able to respond to protection assistance referrals. The funding cuts may have also contributed to an increase in the number of cases reported to Loop, as affected individuals sought alternative channels to raise their concerns.
Loop also received and handled 38 complaints related to aid diversion, fraud, and corruption. These reports mainly highlighted concerns that humanitarian aid did not reach those most in need, but instead unfairly benefited certain groups, individuals with personal connections, or those in positions of power. Complainants often raised issues of favouritism in aid distribution, misallocation of resources, and a lack of transparency in the selection process.
Additionally, Loop handled 44 service-level complaints and non-sensitive requests, with a significant number addressing interruptions in assistance, missing payments, and a lack of response after the collection of biometrics, such as fingerprinting.
Out of the 82 allegations of fraud, corruption and service-level complaints received, 40 were related to cash. Allegations of fraud, corruption, and service-level complaints were primarily linked to the cash and food security sectors, with cash assistance being the most frequently reported concern.
A total of 61 sensitive reports were referred during this reporting period. Of these, 26 referrals were made for assistance in protection-related cases, while 35 were referred to address allegations related to corruption, fraud, and service-level complaints. 79% of all referrals received a response during this reporting period, with 92% of protection-related referrals and 69% of allegation-related referrals being acknowledged.
The referrals were sent to various types of organisations, including International NGOs (21 referrals with a 90% response rate/ 19), UN agencies (21 referrals with a 57% response rate/ 12), National NGOs (18 referrals with an 89% response rate/ 16), and Government entities (1 referral with a 100% response rate).
This is an increased response rate to sensitive referrals from Loop compared to all previous months. This improvement is driven by stronger engagement in clusters and working groups, increased coordination with protection organisations, and the training and onboarding of organisations who are part of two consortia, which are actively integrating Talk to Loop into their programmes: GAASHAAN and BRCiS. These efforts to integrate have significantly enhanced the awareness of Loop within the Consortium members, as well as greater understanding of the referral processes and not being surprised when they receive reports through Loop. This has directly translated to significantly higher response rates by their organisations which are actively engaged.
Of the 26 protection referrals made, 14 survivors have received services, including 5 who are receiving long-term assistance. Six cases are pending updates, mainly due to challenges in reaching the survivors or because the assessment is complex, and the organisations require more time to determine the appropriate services. In one case, services were offered but later refused by the survivor. For the remaining five cases, services were not provided as the survivors were deemed ineligible.
In summary, this has been a very busy quarter for Talk to Loop, with an increase in open feedback, sensitive feedback and organisation onboarding to the platform. We share the data with the CFM Interoperable Aggregator through the CEA task force and align reporting. We are trialling stronger integrations with Minority Rights Group (MRG), Marginalized Communities Advocacy Network (MCAN), Radio Ergo, the Pledge for Change and the BRCiS and GAASHAAN consortiums as well as SDC data analysis and the Risk Management Unit's sensitive reporting.
In a time of great turmoil and budget cuts across the board, we hope to be able to continue to provide an increasingly valuable, efficient and collective service that puts the voices and experiences of diverse communities from across Somalia and Somaliland on decision-making tables everywhere.
Loop is available to communities in Somalia/Somaliland mainly in the Voice channel. All incoming feedback undergoes moderation by trained Somalis who speak the relevant dialects. Thousands of people call Loop’s toll-free number (2023) and moderators decide whether to publish the feedback, refer it internally to the Sensitive Feedback Lead, or reject it. During this period, Loop received 39,000 calls from community members in Somalia/Somaliland and after moderation 1,515 pieces were published, which represents a 70% increase from Q4 2024 (888) and a 160% increase from Q1 2024 (580). This significant rise in community uptake can be attributed to several factors:
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Loop continues to be available to communities across the whole of Somalia/Somaliland. Overall, there is an increase in feedback in most regions. In the reporting period, and when compared to Q4 2024 new feedback is recorded in Awdal (5) and Middle Juba (4).
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Language and dialect usage
Loop’s Voice channel is available in five languages/dialects across Somalia/Somaliland: Maxaatiri, Maay, Benadiri, Bajuuni, and Barawani Chimini (the most recent addition). However, usage remains heavily skewed, with Maxaatiri accounting for 82% of feedback and Maay for 18%, the other languages/dialects had no engagement. Maxaatiri and Maay dominate due to the broader familiarity, but Loop aims to serve minority communities and communities who speak different dialects/languages and increase the usage of the available dialects/languages. With a particular interest in the Kismayo region and the Kizigua/Mushunguli speakers, Loop is actively engaging in partnerships to reach minority individuals in the region and build trust and increase usage, through strong partnerships with minority led organisations, Minority Rights Group (MRG) and Marginalized Communities Advocates Network (MCAN).
We have noted that while some community members, when calling Loop, will press the option that states they speak a certain dialect, they will, however, record in Maxaatiri or Maay. Feedback suggests that just having the additional dialects builds confidence from communities that we are inclusive and aware of differences, which potentially creates a safer space for feedback.
To address this gap of underrepresentation of minority clan dialects/languages, Loop partnered with Radio Ergo to air ads promoting Loop and the availability of all language/dialect options, and is collaborating with partners to boost awareness through their outreach activities. Other activities include engaging minority rights organisations and networks to increase awareness, trust and usage of Loop as a safe reporting mechanism by those communities (see below subsection on minority communities usage of Loop).
34% of users in the reporting period are female. This represents a slight increase from Q4 2024 (28%) yet it continues to be less than previous periods, e.g. 40% in Q1 2024.
Overall the feedback on Loop, when age is disclosed by authors, represents the national age distribution. 6% of feedback was recorded by children and adolescents aged 14-17, which is double the number in Q4 2024 (3%). Noteworthy, this percentage might be higher across all age groups, as 61% of users opted not to share their age.
Among those who provided their locations, most of the children and adolescents contacted Loop from the Bay region. Girls recorded 27% of the feedback, and only two children and adolescents mentioned living with a disability. The vast majority (95%) of feedback from children and adolescents consisted of requests for assistance, with 70% related to cash assistance, followed by 20% of requests for food items.
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Quotes from children and adolescents feedback:
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Similar to Q4 2024, 4% of feedback was recorded by older people (60 years old+) with a total of 12 pieces or 19%, of this feedback being recorded by females. Where the location is mentioned, 10 older persons mentioned Lower Shabelle as their location, followed by Toghdeer (6), Banaadir (5), Bakool (5) and Gedo (4).
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Quotes on neglect/urban bias and explicit urban-rural disparity:
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Quotes on sudden aid cessation:
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Quotes on exclusion of vulnerable groups:
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Quotes on failed promises/registration without follow-up:
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Loop saw a rise in engagement from people living with disabilities (PLWD) as 3% (43) of users identified as living with disabilities, marking a notable increase from 2% (19) in Q4 2024. Among those: 19 were women and 24 were men. Where location is mentioned, most of the feedback from PLWD came from Banaadir (5) and Galguduud (5). Additionally, 15 of these users who are PLWD reported being caregivers for other PLWD, highlighting intersecting challenges and vulnerabilities including in accessing support, indicating a need for targeted assistance.
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Quote from a PLWD on the stigma and exclusion he faces that is compounded by being a member of a minority clan:
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Loop is working with some Organisations for People with Disabilities (OPD) to support them in using Loop to amplify the voices of PLWD in order to make aid more accessible, relevant and inclusive.
Of the total users in Q1 2025, 3% (51 individuals, including PLWD) reported being caregivers for PLWD. Among these caregivers, 67% (34) were female, while 31% (16) were male. This contrasts with the overall female usage of Loop (34%) during the same period, indicating that women disproportionately shoulder caregiving responsibilities for PLWD. The disparity likely reflects long-standing gender roles, where women are more often primary caregivers, particularly in contexts marked by compounded vulnerabilities, unmet needs, and limited access to services.
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Minority communities
Only two persons who self-identify as belonging to minority communities used Loop; one of them also lives with a disability. While it is possible that more users are from minority communities but chose not to identify themselves, uptake from minority communities continues to be very low, consistent with previous reporting periods. This can be linked to language barriers, highlighting the need for Loop and others to enhance efforts in gaining trust with minority communities, encouraging them to use CFMs to share their experiences and concerns and advocating for their communities.
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Feedback types
Requests for assistance
As seen in previous reporting periods, Requests for Assistance (93%) continue to dominate community feedback in Somalia. In this reporting period, Requests for Assistance increased by 12% from Q4 2024 (81%) and by 22% from Q1 2024 (71%). While this rise is expected given dwindling funding and escalating needs, what is increasingly concerning is that it is accompanied by a sharp increase in protection-related reports, a trend not seen in any previous quarterly report since Loop began operating in Somalia. This convergence of growing humanitarian needs alongside heightened protection concerns signals a worrying shift in the nature and severity of the challenges facing communities.
Among the most pressing concerns, climate-related issues (16%) including droughts (16%) and flooding (1%), have significantly impacted livelihoods, particularly in rural areas (67%) such as in Bakool, Gedo, parts of Middle Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Sool, where food insecurity and water shortages are worsening. Displacement remains a critical issue, with communities in IDP camps (18%) in Mogadishu, Baidoa, Kismayo, Dollow and areas with high displacement such as in Gedo, Hiran, Lower Shabelle citing lack of aid (6%) as a major challenge. Additionally, clan conflict (0.5%) has been reported as a driver of displacement and insecurity, particularly in Banaadir and Lower Shabelle, further straining access to aid. Reports of marginalisation (0.7%) also highlight the exclusion of vulnerable groups, including PLWDs and minority communities, from aid distributions, reflecting ongoing gaps in equitable aid distribution. 15% of the feedback was reported in urban areas, which emphasises the disproportionate impact of crises on displaced and remote communities.
Quotes on displacement due to clan conflict and other fighting:
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Requests for information made up approximately 2% of the total feedback received, a significant drop from Q4 2024 (6%). These requests mainly came from individuals seeking clarity about ongoing or upcoming programmes, organisational support, and aid distribution. Some users contacted Loop to understand the service and how it can benefit them.
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Feedback analysis reveals a growing demand for humanitarian assistance across multiple sectors, with cash assistance (46%) emerging as the most frequently requested form of support. This is primarily driven by food insecurity, displacement, urban poverty, and high living costs, particularly in Bay and Banaadir regions. Food security concerns account for 20% of feedback, with acute hunger reported in Mogadishu, Baydhabo, and Afgooye, largely due to climate shocks and displacement. WASH (6%), healthcare (4%) and shelter (3%) remain critical concerns, especially in IDP settlements and urban centers.
Cash assistance is a subsection of cross cutting thematic area and requests for cash assistance (46%) were highest in Bay (26%) and Banaadir (22%), particularly in Baydhabo and Mogadishu, where food insecurity, displacement, and urban poverty are major concerns. Other regions with significant cash requests include Woqooyi Galbeed (7%), Gedo (7%), and Middle Shabelle (7%), with needs concentrated in Hargeisa, Baardheere, and Luuq.
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People requested cash primarily to buy food, pay medical expenses, cover rent, restart livelihoods, and support education costs. In IDP settlements and rural areas, cash requests were linked to shelter and survival needs, while in urban centres like Mogadishu and Hargeisa, they were driven by high living costs and business recovery efforts.
Food insecurity remains one of the most pressing concerns driving requests from communities (20%), with the highest number of requests coming from Banaadir (38%), particularly in Mogadishu, where urban poor and displaced communities struggle with limited access to food. Bay (18%), especially Baydhabo, also reported high levels of hunger due to displacement and climate shocks. Lower Shabelle (8%), Togdheer (6%), and Middle Shabelle (6%) also saw notable food security concerns. The top districts reporting hunger include Mogadishu (38%), Baydhabo (15%), and Afgooye (6%).
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Access to clean water and sanitation was a significant issue (6%), with the majority of feedback coming from Banaadir (32%), especially Mogadishu (32%), where informal settlements struggle with limited clean water sources and poor sanitation. Bay (22%), Lower Shabelle (7%), and Middle Shabelle (5%) also reported critical gaps in WASH services, particularly in Baydhabo (16%), where many displaced families lack access to safe drinking water. Other key districts affected include Garoowe, Afgooye, and Buur Hakaba (each 5%)
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Healthcare access remains a concern (4%), with the highest percentage of feedback coming from Banaadir (50%), where Mogadishu (50%) residents struggle to afford medical services and medicine. Requests mainly focused on the cost of healthcare, lack of medical supplies, and limited access to hospitals and clinics, particularly for displaced populations and those in remote areas.
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Shelter-related feedback (3%) were most frequently reported in Banaadir (55%), where displaced people and low-income families in Mogadishu (55%) struggle with rent, evictions, and overcrowded living conditions. Other affected regions include Middle Shabelle (7%), Sool (7%), and Bay (7%), where displacement has left families in inadequate shelters. Baydhabo (7%), Caynabo (7%), and Balcad (4%) were among the top districts reporting shelter concerns.
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Education-related feedback accounted for (1.5%) of the total feedback, highlighting some gaps in access to schooling across Somalia. The most affected regions included Burco (15%), where students face financial barriers to education, and Mogadishu (10%), where families struggle to afford school fees, particularly for madrasas. Displacement further compounds the issue, with IDP camps in Caynabo (10%), Moore Xagar (7%), and Shamsudin (7%) reporting a complete lack of schools. Remote areas such as Garadag, Sanaag (7%) and Balliga Cabdi-Xasan, Saraar (7%) also showed severe shortages of education facilities, leaving entire communities without access. Additionally, vulnerable groups, including orphans and PLWD faced compounded challenges in attending school due to poverty and caregiving responsibilities.
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Loop tagged organisations, including Loop, in 45% of feedback on the platform. Out of those tags, 21% were replied to.
Loop is partnering with organisations in the BRCiS III and GAASHAAN consortia in Somalia/Somaliland. Loop trained 57 CFM/MEAL focal points on how to use Loop’s platform to engage with community feedback. 42 CFM focal points have registered and many are actively engaging with community feedback.
The response rate from these organisations has increased significantly (50%) due to the partnerships model and the dedicated time and effort from Loop and focal points within the organisations to address community feedback directly.
Community members appreciate the engagement from organisations, as 13% have engaged with replies from organisations.
During this reporting period, Loop handled a total of 174 sensitive reports. These reports were categorised into four main areas:
Compared to the previous reporting period, there was a significant increase in the overall number of reports received. This rise was particularly notable in protection-related reports, which became the dominant category of sensitive feedback. While the previous period was primarily marked by fraud, corruption, and service-level complaints, this period saw protection cases emerge as most reported concerns. This is a new trend since September 2024.
Of the total reports handled, 89 were related to protection issues. These were further broken down as follows: 36 reports concerned child protection, 35 were related to GBV, 10 related to general protection, 5 involved MHPSS concerns, and 3 were categorized as discrimination.
This reporting period was marked by a reduction in funding due to the US stop work orders, which significantly impacted humanitarian assistance across Somalia, particularly in the protection sector. As a result, it took a lot longer to research and identify organisations still able to respond to protection assistance referrals. The funding cuts may have also contributed to an increase in the number of cases reported to Loop, as affected individuals sought alternative channels to raise their concerns.
The majority of GBV reports received during this reporting period were related to sexual violence and intimate partner violence, underscoring the risks women and girls face within their communities. These risks arise from both unknown perpetrators and close circles, including family members. Similarly, child protection cases primarily involved sexual abuse, domestic violence, and cases of unaccompanied, separated, or orphaned children in need of support.
Loop also received and handled 38 complaints related to aid diversion, fraud, and corruption. These reports mainly highlighted concerns that humanitarian aid did not reach those most in need, but instead unfairly benefited certain groups, individuals with personal connections, or those in positions of power. Complainants often raised issues of favouritism in aid distribution, misallocation of resources, and a lack of transparency in the selection process.
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Additionally, three sensitive reports were related to other forms of misconduct, with two involving allegations of harassment. However, these cases remain pending and unclear. One report came from a community member alleging harassment by an organisation, while another raised multiple concerns, including harassment by a supervisor.
Loop handled 44 service-level complaints and non-sensitive requests, with a significant number addressing interruptions in assistance, missing payments, and a lack of response after the collection of biometrics, such as fingerprinting. In most cases, these reports were qualified as sensitive by their authors despite not meeting Loop’s sensitivity criteria.
Allegations of fraud, corruption, and service-level complaints were primarily linked to the cash and food security sectors, with cash assistance being the most frequently reported concern.
Out of the 82 allegations of fraud, corruption and service-level complaints received, 40 were related to cash, followed by 16 concerning food security, 4 in nutrition, 3 in education, 2 in health, 3 in livelihoods, and 1 in non-food items (NFI). The remaining reports did not specify a particular sector. While there is no clear pattern regarding the locations from which cash-related reports were submitted, a slightly higher number (8) originated from Middle Shabelle, especially Jowhar district.
During this reporting period, no reports related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse were received. While Loop has seen a significant number of Gender-Based Violence reports, demonstrating that women are using the platform to seek help, there remains a gap in SEA reporting. This suggests a possible lack of awareness or trust in reporting SEA cases through Loop. To address this gap, Loop will be actively promoted as a reporting channel for SEA cases in the next awareness campaign conducted by the PSEA Network. The campaign will focus on ensuring affected individuals understand their right to report SEA, how to use Loop confidentially, and the types of support available.
Among the 174 sensitive reports handled in this first quarter, 87% were submitted by individuals reporting on their own behalf, while 13% (22 reports) were submitted by community members, parents, or relatives of survivors.
A very slightly higher proportion of reports were submitted by male authors (54%) compared to female authors (46%). However, a greater share of protection-related reports concerned women and girls (64%), while reports related to corruption, fraud, and other service-level complaints were predominantly submitted by male authors (73%), this is a trend consistent with previous reporting periods
Regarding the individuals concerned by the reports, 22% concerned children and adolescents under 18, 36% concerned adults between 18 and 59, and only 2% related to Elderly aged 60 and above. In many cases, the age of the affected person was not specified by the author.
Additionally, three authors self-identified as belonging to minority groups or clans and reported experiencing discrimination, with two affected by exclusion from assistance. A total of five reports mentioned PLWD, either the author themselves had a disability or they reported concerns related to family members with disabilities.
In terms of location, the vast majority of authors did not declare their location when submitting their feedback and follow-up efforts to confirm locations were often unsuccessful, as some authors were unreachable or had withdrawn their feedback. However, among the reports with identified locations, the Banadir region, particularly Mogadishu, accounted for the highest number of sensitive reports handled. This was followed by Middle Shabelle, Woqooyi Galbeed, Hiran, Galgaduud, and Sanaag. It is also worth mentioning that there were regions with no sensitive reports received, which could indicate a need for targeted awareness efforts in those regions to increase reporting.
Referrals, acknowledgements and outcomes
Of the 174 cases opened this quarter, 123 were closed, while the remaining 51 cases are still in progress. Of the closed cases during this quarter, 35 resulted in a positive outcome for the author. The remaining 88 were closed because authors could not be reached, no actionable solution was possible, or reports were withdrawn. Withdrawals often occurred due to individuals testing the system or an author initially flagging concerns that were later clarified as general requests. This is a pattern consistent with previous months.
A total of 61 sensitive reports were referred during this reporting period. Of these, 26 referrals were made for assistance in protection-related cases, while 35 were referred to address allegations related to corruption, fraud, and service-level complaints.
79% of all referrals received a response during this reporting period, with 92% of protection-related referrals and 69% of allegation-related referrals being acknowledged. This is a significant increase from previous quarters. For referrals of allegations, the lack of response is due to pending acknowledgment by the recipient organisations, despite reminders. It is worth noting that some organisations took action but did not acknowledge receipt to Loop. For protection referrals, Loop had to refer the cases again to other organisations to ensure timely support.
The referrals were sent to various types of organisations, including International NGOs (21 referrals), UN agencies (21), National NGOs (18), and Government entities (1). The corresponding response rates were 90% for International NGOs (19 responses), 57% for UN agencies (12 responses), 89% for National NGOs (16 responses), and 100% for Government entities (1 response).
This is an increased response rate to sensitive referrals from Loop compared to all previous months. This improvement is driven by stronger engagement in clusters and working groups, increased coordination with protection organisations, and the training and onboarding of organisations who are part of two consortia (among others), which are actively integrating Talk to Loop into their programmes: GAASHAAN and BRCiS. These efforts have significantly enhanced the awareness of Loop within the Consortium members, as well as greater understanding of the referral processes and not being surprised when they receive reports through Loop. This has directly translated to significantly higher response rates by their organisations which are actively engaged.
Of the 26 protection referrals made, 14 survivors have received services, including 5 with long-term assistance. Six cases are pending updates, mainly due to challenges in reaching the survivors or because the assessment is complex.
Case study: How can Loop support the most vulnerable?
A 70-year-old mother in a remote, conflict-affected area reached out to Loop, struggling to care for her two adult children with mental health issues. She described extreme difficulties, noting that one son’s violent behaviour forced her to confine him in a separate room made of iron sheets or tie him to a tree for safety.
After a referral, a specialized organisation visited her home, where she lived with 23 individuals. One son has a neurological disorder, the other psychosis, and the violent son was being kept in a small plastic-sheet room. The mother was severely distressed and depressed, overwhelmed by caregiving without support for so many years.
The organisation provided psychosocial support and psychoeducation on mental health and managing psychosis, helping her to understand the symptoms and learn caregiving strategies. The family will also receive cash assistance to buy essential medications, as no programmes currently cover this need.
Loop contacted her for follow-up, and she expressed satisfaction with the services provided. Her main comment was that she was grateful someone cared about her situation and her children’s well-being.
Since October 2024, FCDO has funded Talk to Loop in Somalia to support the BRCiS and GAASHAAN consortia, led by Save the Children International (SCI) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). By integrating Talk to Loop to the Consortiums approaches, they provide a secure, independent, and real-time feedback channel, addressing fears of retribution and other barriers to reporting and program adaptations. It complements existing complaint and feedback mechanisms (CFMs), and it helps national organisations with limited resources to use Loop as their own long term CFM, misconduct, PSEA and Safeguarding reporting channel.
So far, we have collectively learned that the successful adoption of Talk to Loop requires a whole-of-organisation approach. Integration requires coordination across multiple units, including monitoring and evaluation teams, project staff, communications, and leadership. Leadership buy-in is necessary to support adoption. Existing internal policies may need adjustments to support the seamless flow of data into the existing SOPs. For example, some INGOs do not currently accept anonymous reports, which conflicts with Loop’s design to address known barriers to reporting sensitive issues: fear of retribution for reporting.
One of the most significant improvements has been the increase in response rates to sensitive reports. Initially, only 50% of these reports were being addressed by organisations in a timely manner. However, after 2 months of coordination, onboarding and training efforts, responsiveness have reached 100%! The initial delays were largely due to a lack of familiarity with the platform, highlighting the importance of training and continuous engagement.
Community engagement is another crucial factor in ensuring effective reporting. Organisations must actively promote Talk to Loop, to encourage community participation and to receive actionable, relevant feedback and reports. The more specific and targeted the communications the more relevant, useful and actionable the data.
Accurate tagging of feedback and reports is necessary to ensure that feedback reaches the right organisations. This is being improved through the platform design enhancements and sharing of basic project information with Loop. Without these steps, engagement remains limited, and feedback and reports risk being misdirected.
Sustainability is also a key concern. The integration of Talk to Loop into an existing workflow requires technical support and investment of time. If the platform is to be adopted and fully embedded within existing organisations systems they need security that there will be continuous provision of the platform. There is also interest for national NGOs to adopt Talk to Loop as their primary reporting mechanism across all of their partner programs, which could reduce operational costs, prevent duplication of efforts, and standardise feedback processes.
The experience so far has also revealed some challenges in the reporting of GBV cases. While there has been an increase in GBV reporting following training sessions, there is no clear evidence linking this directly to consortium-led awareness activities. Many individuals mention having heard about Loop through word of mouth and the positive impact it had on their ‘neighbour, friend, family member’. Strengthening communication strategies and tracking outreach efforts could improve understanding of the impact of targeted awareness campaigns.
Looking ahead, sustained commitment from FCDO and other funders will be essential to ensure Talk to Loop continues to serve as an effective collective accountability tool. Aligning internal policies with Loop’s reporting standards will help integrate the platform more seamlessly into existing safeguarding mechanisms. Additionally, refining data analysis and engagement strategies could improve uptake in rural and hard-to-reach areas. These learnings provide a strong foundation for strengthening community feedback mechanisms and ensuring that Talk to Loop becomes a long-term simple and complementary solution for improving accountability and safeguarding in the region.
The Loop platform has had some significant improvements in the first quarter of 2025, including improvement to tagging and filtering with an aim of making the data more user friendly and accessible to inform decision making for all stakeholders. This has included, user design improvements to make it easier and more intuitive to navigate the statistics and feedback pages as well as:
A field has been added that specifies whether the feedback had been submitted by someone belonging to a minority group, as well as improvements for the disability column and the ability to filter by language, which could also act as a proxy for minority groups in Somalia.
We have added regions and districts, to enable analysis across different subsections of the country.
We have added new filtering to replies so that there is better analysis of who is replying to whom about what and the potential usefulness/ impact of that engagement. This will in time be developed much further, but for now there is a tag about whether feedback has been replied to or not, and whether the replies to the feedback had been written by a community member, an organisation, or a specific organisation.
We have improved the data export function, including some of the above filters and data points but also creating a new data export functionality that allows internal loop users to export data in a data model that follows the AAP Somalia InterAgency Collective Feedback Mechanism data model. This is a model that several humanitarian organisations have collaborated on building (including Loop), enabling a bigger collective picture of community voices, with an objective of improving the transparency and collaborative potential.
We continue to work on the data visualisation of the statistics page. This has included a renaming and explanation of many of the open feedback tables on the statistics page. The charts’ titles and descriptions have been updated to clearly describe what the number or chart is trying to reflect. All the new filters added have also been ported into the statistics page.
Finally on the operational side, a number of improvements have been made to allow for better quality assurance and moderation practices, those include the ability to assign different moderators to different feedback, this will help us in time to know who moderated which feedback to help with quality assurance. We have added the ability to annotate replies with thematic tags to give better semantic meaning to replies for data analysis purposes.
On the sensitive case management side, a number of improvements have been made to our internal case management system, and new tools have been introduced allowing our case managers to send end-to-end encrypted emails, making our communication and security practices compliant with those of the biggest humanitarian organisations.
Besides all the internal and external user facing changes, our team has started a technical migration process in which the cloud infrastructure; on which all of our compute, storage, and networking services are running; is being consolidated into one Terraform repository, making the technology that so many stakeholders depend on, more reliable, and more maintainable and scalable. This work will continue into the second quarter of 2025.
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