The Danish Refugee Council has published a comprehensive guide and handbook on how to establish Complaint Mechanisms in humanitarian projects. The handbook is part of the effort to strengthen accountability and quality in humanitarian assistance.
While many humanitarian programmes always have received complaints and provided feedback as part of the interaction with the communities in which they operate, a Complaints Mechanism as a formalised system is relatively new.
A properly established Complaints Mechanism provides a safe opportunity for the local population and the beneficiaries to raise valid concerns and to have concerns addressed objectively against a standard set of rules, resting in the values and commitments of the agency.
During the past years, DRC has obtained valuable experiences in dealing with complaints. We recognise that the differences in operational contexts, target population, programme focus etc. required different types of Complaint Mechanisms; from food or non-food distributions in Darfur to interventions dealing with sensitive protection issues for refugees in Lebanon; from large-scale multi-sector interventions to small network initiatives. There is no catch-all solution, but each Complaints Mechanism needs to the tailored to the local context.
The strengthening of accountability is especially important when working with vulnerable people. A properly designed and managed Complaints Mechanism helps to reduce unintended and negative side-effects of humanitarian interventions and builds the dignity of those affected by the intervention by reducing the imbalance in power between relief provider and relief receiver. Through the Complaints Mechanism, agencies hold themselves accountable to their commitments and establish a dignifying and accessible forum for dealing with grievances in a proper manner.
About the Complaints Mechanism Handbook
The handbook by DRC is based on a set of minimum requirements that need to be observed in order to ensure that the Complaints Mechanism is of a satisfactory quality and that the resulting benefits are materialised. Based on these minimum standards, the Complaints Mechanism Handbook guides the responsible manager through 11 concrete steps of deciding who, how and about what can people complain, how and what to respond to complainants, who should deal with the complaint and how, aspects of sensitivity and more.
The main objective of this handbook is to offer practical solutions to the challenge of setting up and managing a successful Complaints Mechanism by analysing the local context. In addition to the step by step guide, the handbook includes a number of practical tools and exercises to facilitate the process, and it contextualises the concept of a Complaints Mechanism and presents some of the added values and opportunities that it offers.
The Complaints Mechanism Handbook can be downloaded in PDF for free from this page and used against proper reference to DRC.
A printed copy of the handbook is available for 150 DKK / 20 EUR (excluding shipment). The book is 130 pages in 5 chapters and includes a CD-ROM.
On the CD-ROM, annexes and templates are found in both PDF, Word and Excel format for easy adaptation. Please submit you request to cm@drc.dk including your name, organisation, address, email and telephone number or fill out and submit the form below.
