*This report analyses data from January 2023 to July 2023
Overall, the feedback on Loop from Ukraine and Poland, portrays the resilience and determination of Ukrainian refugees in the face of adversity. It highlights the crucial role played by various local organisations and volunteers in providing much-needed support and aid during their time of displacement both in Ukraine and in Poland. The expressions of gratitude and the requests for assistance provide insight into the challenges faced by refugees and the importance of local humanitarian support during times of crisis.
The data on Loop suggests that a number of local organisations, such as Foundation OVUM, the Centre for Immigrant and Refugee Support (CWII), the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development, and Homo Faber - the organisation where Loop and Danish Refugee Council piloted Loop for Poland, among others, are actively promoting and requesting feedback on their activities and projects. They are receiving feedback and are responding in a timely, accountable manner.
The type of feedback is significantly different to that we received in 2022 when it was more of an acute crisis. Now feedback covers subjects more representative of refugees settling into new environments as well as highlighting the significant psychological effects of the conflict on people's well being and ability to manage longer term. We can also see that there are well respected national organisations who are able to provide the support requested and this need is likely to continue.
The majority of the feedback on Loop was positive expressions of thanks and heartfelt gratitude to national civil society organisations and volunteers for the services they have received. This often is then followed by a question seeking further assistance.
Feedback was primarily giving thanks for services or asking questions looking for advice. Overall, responses to feedback from organisations remained low in Ukraine, specifically to Thanks.
In Ukraine, feedback was directed to over 14 different organisations but the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development was the most often cited.
Feedback in Ukraine continued to be primarily from women between the ages of 30 and 59. Yet the type of feedback given was consistent across age groups and gender (primarily thanks with some opinions and some questions).
Some feedback was seeking assistance with transportation to move to Poland until the situation in Ukraine improved.
The vast majority of feedback in Ukraine was in Ukrainian. Some people read the information in Ukrainian but chose to leave feedback in Russian. We will be adding Russian across all of the Loop feedback mechanisms this month, as there are a large number of Ukrainians who feel most comfortable speaking their dialect of Russian.
Ukrainians used all input channels equally, including Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram and the web. With additional funding we could add Voice through WhatsApp.
Feedback in Poland was also primarily from women aged between 30 and 59, and they were also the main people to report complaints.
Unlike other feedback mechanisms we see engagement from people over 60 who also report concerns as well as thanks.
Feedback in Poland had a greater percentage of questions and requests for support, this is because more organisations in Poland actively engaged with Loop as a tool to support their work and projects.
Response rates from organisations in Poland were a lot higher and more timely than in the past and than other country contexts, including Ukraine.
The feedback was much more varied and diverse than the first 6 months of using Loop and seems to be primarily in direct response to requests for feedback from accountable organisations.
In the feedback we can see that refugees used Loop to seek assistance. Authors asked for help in finding suitable accommodation for families, including those with pets.The type and nature of feedback was much more diverse than last year and than feedback coming from Ukraine.
Many of the refugees in Poland sought support from organisations and volunteers, such as seeking help with essential needs from the Kalejdoskop Kultur Foundation (Kalejdoskop Kultur | Fundacja Kalejdoskop Kultur). Accommodation, food, and clothing were among the primary needs they sought assistance with. Some individuals also had specific medical needs, such as requests for insulin and treatments. Kalejdoskop Kultur Foundation provides psychological help in Wroclaw for the refugees. They engage in community centres but also in other places where they can provide assistance and feedback on Loop was responded to and resulted in support for the authors being received.
A noticeable aspect of the feedback on Loop for this period, is the psychological support provided to the refugees. They spoke highly of the support groups led by professional psychologists from the Kalejdoskop Kultur Foundation. These groups played a crucial role in helping the refugees cope with feelings of despair, low self-esteem, and the loss of meaning in life due to the upheaval of war and displacement. It shows the increasing importance and need for psychosocial services to help communities cope with the trauma of the conflict.
The expressions of gratitude towards the volunteers and psychologists were heartfelt, acknowledging their understanding, sensitivity, and kindness. The refugees mentioned that the support they received made a substantial impact on their lives, providing hope and a sense of community during their challenging circumstances.
For example this feedback for the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development.
Feedback was primarily through the Web (24) or Telegram (21) - a new channel on Loop this year. With fewer through Facebook Messenger (6) or WhatsApp (4). Interestingly feedback on Telegram was all in Ukrainian whereas the other channels also had feedback in English and Polish. The feedback channels were used by a wide age range of people but the web was used by the most 60+ authors and otherwise only 30 - 59 year olds. This shows how different groups are more or less likely to use different languages and different input channels even within a small specific population in Poland.
In 2023, we received two sensitive reports. Both were from women asking for assistance and support with seeking accountability. Both were linked to managing as a foreigner in a new country and less the result of issues as a direct result of the conflict or humanitarian response, like we saw in 2022.
At Loop we are prepared for and had expected much wider buy-in and use of Loop in Ukraine and in Poland, as we have in other countries. In Poland and Ukraine we are able to process, refer and moderate many more pieces of feedback and sensitive reports per day than we have been receiving.
Loop was available a few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine and has continued to grow and offer more languages and input channels based on people's feedback and needs and the changing context. At that time there were very few reporting mechanisms and now, mid 2023, there are reports of having too many, resulting in duplication and confusion for affected people.
The Loop team has been busy training people, raising awareness of the new collective approach to feedback and safe reporting with key actors and being actively engaged in coordination and advocacy linked to accountability.
This year we have trained over 50 colleagues about how to use Loop. Participants came from for NGOs and INGOs; such as: NOMADA, Adra Poland, Adra Ukraine, Foundation Ukraina, SMILYVIST, Mapuj Pomoc, Autonomia, SalamLub, Ground Truth Solutions, RSH, Toward Dialogue, Ukrainian House, Critical Education, and Zustricz. We have also done introductory presentations to many others.
In Poland the concept of asking for and openly giving feedback is not a common occurrence as it is in some countries. We see that support is needed to help raise awareness with Polish staff about the value that asking for feedback and engaging with communities can bring as well as the need for safe anonymised feedback mechanisms so that survivors can report safely, vulnerable people can seek safety and people can share information about suspected corruption, fraud or misconduct without jeopardising their safety or roles. To contribute to this endeavour, Loop has been an active part of a network of organisations working on Accountability to Affected populations as well as Safeguarding.
In June and together with the CDAC Network and Clear Global, Loop conducted a workshop in Rzeszów for local organisations. The workshop's aim was to support organisations’ learning about how to easily and effectively implement a feedback mechanism within their structures and the potential benefits feedback mechanisms can bring. The NGO Forum supported the workshop as part of the TAG (Technical Group) initiative, to which Loop is an active member.
On 30 May the Loop Poland/Ukraine team published an article in the largest local humanitarian portal NGO.pl. The article was part of a series of posts on Accountability to Affected people co created together with the CDAC Network, Clear Global, and Ashoka. The article written by Loop was about feedback mechanisms and key design criteria which are important to have in place. Mechanizmy do składania feedbacku. Jak działają i dlaczego są ważne? - Artykuł - ngo.pl
Last year the Danish Refugee Council and Loop worked together on a small-scale pilot to integrate Loop as a tool with their Polish partners in a specific geographic location. After the pilot, community centres have used peoples feedback to adapt projects to respond to refugees identified needs, making concrete programmatic changes such as now having access to doctors in some centres.
In one area there was a concentration of feedback with questions about the changing and complex legal status of Ukrainians in Poland. As a result staff at the centre proactively found the relevant legal information to share with the people. Due to government changes in laws, they had to stay up to date and train staff on a constant basis, to be able to more accurately inform clients.
Loop is present on the NGO Forum (NGO Forum Poland) Advisory Board in Poland. This group of CSOs, along with some INGOs are collectively advocating to the main investors of funds, for greater localisation, including prioritisation of investing in local civil society organisations and improved equitable partnership.
Loop is a tool which also directly addresses a number of barriers to reporting about Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment with positive examples in some contexts. We hope to contribute to enabling a safer humanitarian response in both Poland and Ukraine by providing an independent and anonymous reporting channel for survivors. As such we are a member of the PSEA working groups and we continue to try to participate with minimal staffing and resources in the new energy being brought to the Ukraine PSEA working groups.
Finally, the Loop Poland/Ukraine team is engaging in enhancing collaboration with the Commissioner for Human Rights as part of the "Our Ombudsman" initiative. One of the key concrete outputs, to date, as a result of the feedback and other partners experience, is that the Ombudsman has opened a procedure for local institutions and border guards to design a process for Ukrainians to report a complaint, and they have also initiated proceedings on behalf of Ukrainians who have falsely lost their status when in Poland: https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/pl/content/rpo-ukraina-uchodzca-status-ukr-mswia-wyjasnienia
We look forward to continued coordination, and a growing use of Loop to help people affected by crisis in Poland and Ukraine. We thank Global Giving for their ongoing support and funding.
