Complaint Mechanism
To ensure our mission and create a safe, sensible, and supportive environment for our team and our clients, we established a Complaint Mechanism (CM) with the aim for a more formalized system of soliciting, receiving, processing, and responding to complaints.
Moreover, we aim to provide a safe, non-threatening and easily accessible mechanism that enables everyone to complaint or report any kind of misconduct or wrongdoing.
WHAT IS A COMPLAINT MECHANISM?
A CM is a formalized mechanism to give victims and witnesses of misconduct by an organization a chance to report cases, and for organizations to deal with these complaints in a structured manner.
It constitutes an early warning mechanism to uncover hidden patterns that could be harmful to our mission and our work. We see our CM as a tool of accountability and constant effort to fulfil our mission in the best possible way.
To protect the privacy and safety of the complainant, confidentiality is critical in the handling of complaints. This means that access to and dissemination of information will be restricted only to a limited number of authorized staff for concluding a necessary investigation.
WHAT IS A COMPLAINT?
Equal Rights defines a complaint as a formal expression of dissatisfaction or discontent, and/or misconduct, about someone or something related to our work.
Examples and categorization of complaints:
- Operational complaints: related to projects and programs
- Serious complaints: related to a breach of the Code of Conduct
- Personal misconduct (e.g. assault, harassment, bullying)
HOW TO COMPLAIN
Everyone involved in or affected by the work of Equal Rights can submit a complaint.
Complaints can be submitted through different channels, having in mind barriers that might arise through /socio or cultural background, language, or gender dimensions.
In general, complaints can be submitted via email through the following address:
Complaints can also be made through phone or verbally towards staff members. In these cases, the staff member concerned informs the complainant about the possibility to submit the complaint through the CM and the possibility to submit them on their behalf.
More information can be found here: Our Complaint Mechanism Manual (Link)