Post on 18-Feb-2022
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Addressing Challenges in Humanitarian Cash and Voucher Assistance using Mobile
Money in Somaliland
Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Workshop.
8th April 2019
Ambassador Hotel, Hargeisa
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Contents
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Solutions: Key Action Point .................................................................................................................... 3
3. A little context........................................................................................................................................ 4
4. Cash and Voucher Assistance in Somaliland: a brief overview ................................................................ 4
5. Summary of Presentations. .................................................................................................................... 5
5.1 World Bank Study 7 ....................................................................................................................... 5
5.2 GSMA Research 8 ........................................................................................................................... 6
6. Process map of mobile money enabled cash and voucher assistance & identifying challenges in the
process .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
8. Prioritization of Challenges and Proposed Solutions .............................................................................. 8
9. Next Steps .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Annex 1: Participants List ............................................................................................................................ 10
Annex 2: Program Agenda .......................................................................................................................... 11
Annex 3. Photos from the workshop ........................................................................................................... 12
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1. Introduction
This report summarizes the discussions that took place during a one-day workshop held in Hargeisa learning event on 11th June 2019. The event brought together 32 people from Humanitarian organizations, Mobile Money Operators and a Government representative. The Purpose was to provide a platform to address challenges in Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) using mobile money in Somaliland and identify point of linkages or any bottlenecks between the humanitarian organizations and the private sector. In addition, it was an opportunity to discuss how each leverage on the support the private sector can give in improving the quality of CVA for the benefit of the affected population.
The event was convened by CaLP and, co-facilitated by CaLP and GSMA. The event involved presentations by Sahara Dahir, Jaki Mebur and Belinda Baah. The discussion was based on two handbooks by The GSMA, that will support mobile operators and humanitarian organisations to effectively operationalise mobile money enabled cash and voucher assistance (CVA) built on research done by GSMA in Somaliland.
The report was done by Sahara Dahir and Jaki Mebur.
2. Solutions: Key Action Point
A bottleneck was identified by the participants on the area of verification, where agencies have different ways engaging the Mobile network operators in the verification of receipt of Cash assistance. The development of harmonized standard operating procedure (SOPs) was recommended. This will be led by the Cash Working Group and the GSMA can provide support in the form of funding technical expertise as well as rally MNO involvement.
Specifically, for Somaliland it was pointed out that IDs were provided during elections for free. Currently there is fee for anyone who has not at the time. It was recommended that advocacy with Government to provide IDs for free be done jointly by the MNOS, Somaliland CWG, Development actors and NGO Consortium.
Photo: 1 Hiba AbouSwaid, Participant explaining the mapping activity
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3. A little context
Over the last decade, cash and voucher assistance (CVA) has become an increasingly important
modality in humanitarian response in Somaliland.
In 2017/18, for example the Humanitarian Response Plan1 sought to target 5.5 million people
needing assistance. A wide variety of cash and voucher assistance provided life-saving and
livelihood support to vulnerable people across the country. At the same time, CVA has become a
key modality in resilience programmes utilized.
According to the “Evaluation of the 2017 Somalia Humanitarian Cash-Based Response” 2mobile
money as a transfer mechanism is seen as having the ability to eventually go to scale where a cash
modality is feasible. It provides potential advantages in terms of security and cost; with challenges
in terms of the verification of beneficiaries and traceability of use. Further, a recent World Bank3
study highlights risks of mobile money due to weak regulation and a lack of parity between e-
money and cash in banks.
There are huge opportunities to strengthen the use and reach of mobile money as part of CVA in
Somaliland. With this intent, GSMA and CaLP organized a workshop that brought together mobile
money operators and humanitarian actors to explore opportunities and challenges and, ultimately,
identify how gaps and needs can be addressed. This workshop is the start of a journey, whereby
some actors will come together to the design and test practical solutions to the address some of
the identified problems.
4. Cash and Voucher Assistance in Somaliland: a brief overview
A total estimated value of $267 million was disbursed as CVA for 2018 in Somalia4 and it is
estimated $292 million will be needed for CVA disbursals in Somalia – 27% of all planned
humanitarian assistance in 2019. (OCHA 2019).
Almost 1 million of 4.8 million beneficiaries will be in Somaliland – approximately 19
percent of all CVA in Somalia (OCHA, November 2018)
1 https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/2018-somalia-humanitarian-response-plan 2 http://www.cashlearning.org/resources/library/1249-evaluation-of-the-2017-somalia-humanitarian-cash-based-response 3 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/975231536256355812/Rapid-Growth-in-Mobile-Money-Stability-or-Vulnerability 4 Ibid. 2
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Looking at modalities of distribution, it is estimated that approximately 10% to 15% of CVA
beneficiaries in Somaliland received CVA via mobile money, with the rest being delivered
via vouchers and smart cards.
Mobile money is the dominant digital financial service in Somaliland and can be leveraged
to better serve those affected by humanitarian crises. 78% of the adult population (over
16yrs) have access to a mobile money account while in contrast less than 14% have access
to a bank account. 5
Given the ubiquitous nature on mobile money in Somaliland, it is well worth addressing
the challenges faced by humanitarian agencies in using mobile money for CVA.
In August 2018 an Inter-agency evaluation of CVA in Somalia6 identified challenges in using
mobile money as coverage issues in rural and remote areas, and, beneficiary identification.
During this workshop, the process of CVA via mobile money was mapped, challenges
during these processes identified and potential solutions proposed.
5. Summary of Presentations.
5.1 World Bank Study 7
The World Bank Study highlights how Mobile money is an essential part of Somalia’s
economic ecosystem with almost three-quarters of the population aged 16 and above
use mobile money on a regular basis. It is now the main transaction instrument used by
both individuals and businesses across the country: presenting an opportunity to increase
access to finance, spur inclusive growth, and promote resilient communities. However,
with increasing dependence on mobile money as a medium of exchange comes increased
vulnerabilities.
This study set the scene for further discussion during the workshop on the challenges in
using mobile money for CVA and possibilities in addressing these challenges.
5 Ibid. 3 6 https://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/1538990263.2018-08%20-%20Somalia%20CWG%20Eval%20Rpt%20of%202017%20CBA%20response%20-%20Low%20Res%20for%20email.pdf 7 Ibid. 3 8 https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/blog/the-case-for-mobile-money-enabled-cva-programming/
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5.2 GSMA Research 8
The GSMA Mobile For Humanitarian Innovation team has produced two research based
handbooks with the overall objective of highlighting the opportunities and pain points
associated with operationalising mobile money in humanitarian contexts.
Each handbook delves deeper into the aspects that each stakeholder needs to
understand for the partnerships required for successful mobile enabled CVA.
There is of course overlap between the two handbooks – the overarching message is that
collaboration and a shared value proposition are key to the success of mobile money
enabled CVAs
Third report – mobilising CVA – maps out the different modalities of disbursement
available for CVA and the opportunities for mobile money within it. It also provides a
short section on how the humanitarian sector functions for those less familiar, outlining
the shift to cash and the reasons behind the sectors desire to go digital.
6. Process map of mobile money enabled cash and voucher assistance & identifying
challenges in the process
The Process mapping activity was carried out by first breaking out into 3 diverse groups( it
was essential that the group members were not from the same organisations), the process
by which decisions on CVA were made, from targeting to disbursement and reporting were
then mapped out.
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
-NGO Need Identification + CVA Assessment + MNO engagement and selection -NGO Fund Mobilisation -NGO Beneficiary Targeting and Verification through pre-defined selection criteria
1. Beneficiary selection - Inappropriate selection
of beneficiaries - Verification – no use of
biometrics - Poor communication
mobilisation 2. Beneficiary registration and
verification
1. Preparations (system setting, assessment, research, due diligence , MoU)
2. Beneficiary Selection and Registration
- Targeting the right Beneficiary
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-Challenges - Right People Selection -Duplication of Beneficiaries -NGO Registration of Beneficiaries
-Challenges – Biometric Fingerprint capture problem
-MNO SIM and Mobile Money Registration of Beneficiaries
Challenges KYC Poor Coverage Mobile Handset Illiteracy
NGO/MNO Final List Confirmation NGO Fund Transfer to MNO MNO Transfer of fund to beneficiaries Wrong Transfer MNO Payment Report NGO Post Distribution Monitoring + Hotline for beneficiary feedback
Challenges - Verification 1. NGO Reporting
3. Develop master list 4. Modality selection 5. Delivery mechanism 6. FSP procurement process
NOTE: community preference
7. HHD survey for mobile usage - Lack of handsets and
sim cards 8. Distribution for/and
activation - Poor Network
9. Release payment to operators - Delay of release of
funds to FSPs
10. Checking the list - Lack of IDs
11. Cash distribution - Literacy on mobile
money usage (beneficiaries)
- Poor network 12. Post Distribution
Monitoring - Loss of sim cards and
phones 13. Reporting /
reconciliation by NGO / FSP
Other identified challenge included Inaccessibility (road, remote, hard to reach)
- Data Quality - Common
Names - Location
(Network Challenges)
3. Verification and Validation (final Master List )
- ID Verification Problems (KYC)
4. Approval of Payments List (Sending funds to Service Provider)
- Approval Challenges
- Data Correlation (Syncing list between SP and NGO)
5. Verification 6. Disbursement and
Distribution - Incorrect
Numbers - Network
Coverage Issues 7. M&E and Feedback
- Verification Issues
- Time - Cost
NB: All steps have reporting
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8. Prioritization of Challenges and Proposed Solutions
The challenges at each stage of the mapped out process were highlighted, and then
prioritised by importance.
The Prioritisation was done by use of coloured stickers to vote on the challenges. Each
participant had 3 stickers (Red – 1st Priority, Orange – 2nd Priority and Green-3rd Priority)
There was gallery walk through of the process maps with challenges ( see pictures at the
end of the report), where the participants had the opportunity to vote on the challenges
that they perceived to be important.
The challenges with the most number of voting stickers were then discussed and a brain
storming session on possible solution was conducted. Next steps were then determined
on how to address those challenges.
The top three challenges with possible solutions were discussed as below;
Targeting/Verification KYC/Lack of IDs- Avoiding
double Registration
Digital Literacy
- Proper coordination of all
actors
- Information sharing
- Sharing databases
- Strengthening the village
committees
- Develop Harmonized
Standard operating
procedures
- Collaborate with TAF
- Cross checking the two
lists-MNOs/Hum agencies
- Reference checks
- Simplified KYC- willing
to register beneficiary
without ID
- Agency issue IDs
- Advocacy with the
MNOs to accept project
IDs-
- Advocacy with
Government to issue IDs
- Biometric registration
- Strengthen the
capacity of Government to
provide IDs
- Training
- Interactive voice
response
- Strengthen feedback
mechanism
- Simplifying menu-
shortcodes
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Awareness/Sensitization
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- Training on Zaad/Edaah
- Aqoonmaal-shortcode
for education purposes
- Basic numeracy classes
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- Verification-20% of the
registered beneficiaries-
is not enough
- One selection criteria
- Policy on verification
- Single registry
- Double factor
identification
- Biometric registration
- Compliance with
international data sharing
data protection
Including the MNOs from design
stage
- Use simplified KYC
- Common platform for
data sharing
- Donor to
- Adopt phone number
as valid KYC e.g. use of
Phone number attached
with the plate number of
the cars- for tax
compliance.
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9. Next Steps
To address the challenge of targeting and verification the Hargeisa workshop participants
recommended development of harmonized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The
Cash Working Group will lead this and the GSMA can provide support in the form of
technical expertise and rally MNO involvement.
On the matter of Lack of IDs it was recommended that Advocacy with Government to
provide IDs for free be done jointly by the MNOS,CWG,EU and NGO CONSORTIUM
On digital Literacy, it was noted that the various members were already addressing digital
literacy through various programmatic interventions and there was no need to duplicate
efforts.
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Annex 1: Participants List
NAME ORGANISATION
Roda Isak Ali UNHCR
Mukhtar Abdi Jama UNHCR
Ali Osman Ismail Candelight
Mawhid Musa Ibrahim NADFO
Mohamed Nur Jama Save The Children
Hussein Ismail ADO
Abdiaziz Bilal PENHA
Abdirahman A Jama PENHA
Daud Ismail Abdi TASCO
Abdiaziz Bakaal TASCO
Saed Ismael World concern
Kaitlyn Scott Cash Consortium
Mary Karanja WFP
Abdi Nur CARE
Mustafe Jama CARE
Tesfaye Abebe VSF
Abdirahman Shire Telesom
Mahamud Abdirahman Telesom
Abdullahi Omar DRC
Hiba Abou Swaid FAO
Abdifatah Isaac DRC
Abdirizak Mohamed Action Aid
Hibo Warsame Somtel
Fuad Nuh Dahabshil
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Omar Diouf German Red Cross
Abdikarim Yusuf WFP
Sahara Dahir CaLP
Esther Mbogo CaLP
Belinda Bah GSMA - M4H
Jaki Mebur GSMA - M4H
Annex 2: Program Agenda
GSMA-CaLP
Workshop Agenda.pdf
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Annex 3. Photos from the workshop
Figure 3: Group Work-Mapping out the CVA Process Figure 4: Group Work- Highlighting challenges on the process map
Figure 2: Belinda Baah, GSMA, presenting the GSMA Research
Figure 1: Sahara Dahir, CaLP, kicking off the event