THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A guide to grievance management at the community level Developed with Support from the World Bank 2018 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A guide to grievance management at the community level THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement 5 Overview of the GMC Handbook 6 Section ONE: Introduction to the Grievance 7 Management Process Section TWO: Receiving a grievance Reviewing a grievance The Grievance Management 10 Process Resolving a grievance Escalating a grievance Section THREE: Receiving and Registering 14 Grievances Section FOUR: Responding to Grievances 19 Section FIVE: Documenting the Grievance 22 Management Process ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This Grievance Management Committee training manual and handbook was prepared by the Environment and Social Safeguards Department of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) in collaboration with the World Bank. UNRA acknowledges the technical assistance and financial support provided by the World Bank Group towards the development of this manual, particularly to Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, Senior Social Development Specialist, Ms. Margarita Puerto Gomez, Senior Social Development Specialist, Mr. Boyenge Isasi Dieng, Senior Social Development Specialist and Ms Filder Aryemo, Senior Consultant for the guidance and support provided on the development, review, pilot and implementation of the manual. UNRA is also grateful for the contributions of its staff who led the development, review and design of the manuals. Notably the Environment and Social Safeguard team who coordinated the manual design and implementation process and have been key contributors to content editing of the manuals. The preparation of this Manual also benefited from the review of the Enterprise Architecture and standards team and Public Corporate Affairs. We are confident that this manual will contribute significantly to UNRA’s effort of ensuring that the formation and training of Grievance Management Committees in all UNRA road projects is simplified, streamlined and systematically implemented. THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 5 Overview of the GMC Handbook The GMC handbook is meant to be used by members of the Grievance Management Committee. The handbook provides additional guidance on how the GMCs will execute their tasks. The GMC handbook can be referred to at any point. The book is divided into five sections, namely: Introduction to the grievance management process, the grievance management process, receiving and registering grievances, responding to grievances and documenting the grievance management process. In case any of the details in the handbook are not clear, the GMC should directly reach the respective UNRA contact. 6 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL INTRODUCTION TO THE Section GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT ONE PROCESS THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 7 Grievances due to road projects and other development activities affect people differently. The effect can bring people’s lives to a stop. In order to minimize these effects, it is important to put in place an organized way of managing complaints as they come up. This does not only help the community but also makes the work of UNRA easier. The grievance management procedure in place will make sure that complaints are handled in a fair, open and timely manner. The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidance to the GMCs on how to participate in the process of grievance management along all UNRA active road projects. 1.1. What is a Grievance Management Committee (GMC)? The committee is made up of six elected members some of whom represent the people affected by the project while others are community leaders such as the LC1, religious leaders, opinion leaders and NGO representatives among others. The committee makes it easy for people’s complaints to be addressed 1.2. What is an effective GMC? An effective GMC does the following: • It listens to all voices of those affected by the project. • It builds trust and respect between the communities benefiting from the project and the project leaders. • It ensures value for money by checking that resources are spent as they should be. • Provides feedback in a timely manner. • Raises awareness about proper use of service by the communities. • Allows beneficiaries to talk about their concerns about the project which builds a feeling of ownership. 8 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 1.3. Replacing GMC Members If a member / leader resigns or is terminated for poor performance or abuse of the grievance process, the GMC should sit and review the issue. After this is done, the GMC should hold elections that include the community members, to replace the person. In the event that the committee needs to urgently replace a member but are unable to involve the wider community, they can do the replacement in consultation with some members of the community. Names of capable candidates should be put forward and the most suitable candidate selected. Women and marginalized groups should be involved in consultations. Incentives and Specific Roles of GMCs Membership to the GMC is voluntary. This means that members are not paid. UNRA appreciates the time dedicated by the GMC and it recognizes good performance. In some instances, it may also provide transport for field activities. Additionally, UNRA will provide stationery including grievance logbooks, pens, notebooks and folders. THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 9 Section THE GRIEVANCE TWO MANAGEMENT PROCESS Receiving a grievance Reviewing a grievance Resolving a grievance Escalating a grievance 10 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 2.1. Steps to Follow When Managing Grievances The UNRA grievance management process requires that both the GMC, the UNRA socialogist and Client Care Officer (CCO) and the national level teams work together. The process follows these steps: The GMCs receive and registers Step 1 grievances using the UNRA logbook. GMCs review and address some Step 2 grievances at this level. The GMC secretary reviews the logbook Step 3 and indicates grievances that have been addressed and those that haven’t. The GMC submits the list of grievances that have not been addressed to UNRA Step 4 socialogist and Client Care Officer (CCO) for additional action. THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 11 2.2. The Role of the GMCs in the Grievance Management Process - Registers grievances in the logbook. - Confirms receipt of written complaints. In the case of complaints logged on the spot and on phone, this confirmation is received immediately. In other cases, it is done within three working days. - Makes the arrangements for the GMC meetings to look at the grievances. The secretary also ensures that all appropriate materials are available. - Writes and shares meeting minutes with members of the GMC and other stakeholders. - Registers the steps and actions undertaken for each case. This includes regularly updating the grievance logbook in case of new actions. The secretary uses this information to brief the complainant and the UNRA socialogist and Client Care Officer (CCO) on the status of the complaint. - Creates awareness of the existence of GMC in the community and shares appropriate contact details to encourage reporting of grievances. 2.3. Promoting Effective Grievance Management To manage grievances effectively, the GMC must ensure that: - They are easy to get to. This can be through face-to-face meetings, written complaints, telephone conversations, among others. - They are open to receiving and resolving complaints or making 12 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL referrals when needed. - They are open to taking up various approaches to resolving grievances. - They keep a record of the grievance procedures and regularly report to the PAPs and communities on how much progress has been made to resolve the grievance. 2.4. Creating Awareness About the GMCs The work of the GMC becomes easier when the community is aware of its existence and the role it plays in managing complaints. Here is how to get the word out - Share with the community any visually engaging materials given to you by UNRA. The materials should be displayed in places that are frequented by members of the community. - Talk to people during informal meetings. Examples include when you meet friends, at religious and social events, and during communal functions. - The GMCs can also take advantage of other official village meetings organized by the community leadership THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 13 Section RECEIVING AND THREE REGISTERING GRIEVANCES 14 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 3.1. Channels for Submitting Grievances Receiving and registering complaints is a simple process where affected persons can directly tell the GMCs concerns. Affected persons can also report their concerns anonymously or through third parties. It is the responsibility of GMCs to make sure that community members are aware of the different reporting channels. See the list below. 3.2. Grievances may, in addition be submitted directly to UNRA through any of the following channels: a) Email: (info@unra.go.ug) b) Letter to the Executive Director; Plot 3-5 New Port Bell Road, UAP Nakawa Business Park, P.O. Box 28487 Kampala. c) Fax (0414 232807) d) Suggestion Box e) Walk-in to Headquarter, Project Offices or any of the 23 stations f) Via telephone: Toll free line: (0800 100 812) , Customer/Client Care Hot line (041 4318111) g) Text-message to any of the above h) Call in to radio and TV programs THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 15 i) Media (print and electronic) j) Social media: Twitter (@unra.ug) Facebook (UNRA page) k) Through meetings, conference and workshops Remember that the secretary is required to record all grievances in a standard format. The effectiveness of a GMC are assessed by looking at the number of grievances recorded. Here are some tips that the GMC can use to encourage members of the community to submit complaints. • Ensuring that it is free to report a complaint. • Members of the GMC are good listeners. • Confidentiality of complainants is observed. • GMC members should help potential complainants write their grievances 3.3. Language for Submission of Grievances GMCs will receive grievances in the local languages of the affected community. Any questions, procedures, findings and proposed actions should be translated into a language that the complainant understands. 3.4. Minimum Requirements for Submitting a Grievance To enable effective review and management, UNRA expects anybody who submits a grievance to provide the following information: i. Name of complainant a) Indicate if complainant prefers anonymity. ii. Contact details (geographical location, telephone number, e-mail ) iii. Details of the grievance iv. What exactly happened exactly and where? v. Who was involved, what time or what? 16 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL vi. The circumstances under which it happened as well as the result vii. If the incident only happened once, more times, or is an ongoing problem. Complaints that are missing some of the information listed above may face delays or may not not be worked on. GMC members should follow up and try to get all the needed information. Grievances should be submitted along with supporting documents (such as photos, maps, statement of witnesses etc.). Depending on the channel used by the complainant, logging the grievance can be done in real time or at a later time. In all cases, the GMC secretary should inform the complainant about how far the registration has gone and that it is awaiting assessment. GMC members should be in constant contact with UNRA officials, especially the Client Care Officers to get regular updates on all grievances from their community. These updates should be shared with the complainants. 3.5. Assessing and Responding to Grievances The whole committee should be involved in the first assessment of the complaint to know if it is eligible or not. If a complaint is not eligible, the committee should refer the complainant to the relevant entity. Follow this criteria to know if a complaint is eligible or not: The following criteria should be used to assess and verify eligibility: i. The complaint relates to a UNRA project. ii. The complainant can be identified with a name and contact details, unless s/he chooses to remain anonymous. iii. The complainant is affected by a UNRA project or any other UNRA activity. iv. The grievance is clear. v. The complainant has provided all the needed information. THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 17 If the complaint is rejected, the complainant should be informed of the decision and the reasons for the rejection. Deeper grievance assessment may at times need to be done. To do this, the GMC should decide which team members will be responsible for collecting additional information. The selected members should try to: • Identify the parties involved in the case • Clear issues and concerns raised by the complaint • Collect views of other stakeholders, including those of UNRA • Look at initial options that parties have used and look for appropriate approaches to address the complaint. 3.7. Assessing the Urgency of Grievances There is also need to assess and categorize the complaints to know which ones may be more serious (high, medium, or low). Seriousness here includes the potential of the case to have a negative impact on both UNRA and the community. Issues to consider may include: - How is the issue? - What effect does it have on an individual’s or a group’s welfare and safety? - Is attracting much public attention? 18 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL Section RESPONDING TO FOUR GRIEVANCES THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 19 4.1. Formulating a Response Be open to looking at different ways to addressing grievances. Where applicable, even traditional methods that are fair should be applied. However, the affected person should agree to the method(s) before it is considered. In general, the GMCs should review existing resolution methods when deciding on which way to appropriate response: a) The resolution approach proposed by GMC / UNRA. This should only be done when: i. The complaint is straightforward, the issue is clear, and the solution is obvious. ii. The GMCs can resolve the issue alone and to the satisfaction of the complainant. iii. the considered GMC proposed approach is more likely to be acceptable to the complainant. b) The affected persons and GMCs decide together on a resolution approach c) The affected persons and GMCs refer the complaint to a third party Depending on the nature of complaints, the GMC should decide on: a) response b) the person(s) responsible for communicating feedback to the complainant c) the appropriate means of communication Most complaints should be handled in face-to-face meetings and not sms or letters. However, letters can be used to communicate the final position of a grievance. This can be done on top of face-to-face meetings for future reference. 20 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 4.2. Responses to different types of grievances related to road construction # Types of Grievances GMC recommended Response 1 Child Labour / child Record grievance, initiate contact with the parents of the sexual abuse child to discuss way forward. If discussion with parents fail and the affected person is willing, refer to refer to police or probation office and other relevant NGOs. 2 Sexual exploitation of Record grievance and refer to police, department of social women / unwanted welfare and relevant NGOs in the area. pregnancy 3 Rape, sexual and Record grievance and refer to police, department of social domestic violence welfare and relevant NGOs in the area. 4 Discrimination Record grievance and refer to police, department of social including HIV/AIDs welfare and relevant NGOs in the area. stigma 5 Family breakage Record grievance and refer to police, department of social welfare and relevant NGOs in the area. 6 Loss of life Record grievance and refer to police, department of social welfare and relevant NGOs in the area. 7 Corruption / Theft / Record grievance and refer to police, IG regional Offices robbery or call IG hotline 6009. 8 Accident / death Record grievance, calm down the affected people and refer to police and cultural institutions. 9 Conflict over cultural Initiate discussion with relevant cultural leaders. sites and or relocation of graves 10 Conflict over land Initiate contact with affected parties. Find out the true ownership owners of the land and how the problem can be resolved. If you fail to come to a resolution refer to clan leaders. *** All grievance referrals must be done with consent from the affected person(s). *** Only register grievances that are related to UNRA road project. THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 21 DOCUMENTING THE Section GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT FIVE PROCESS 22 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL To ensure openness and accountability, GMCs are encouraged to document and release information about the grievance process and its outcome. The documentation should also include the number and type of grievances handled and the outcomes. The GMC, through their secretary and chairperson will report directly to the Client Care Officers (CCO) or Regional Sociologist. The CCO and Re Sociologist will then put together all GMC reports and feedback to local government. The team will also review and provide technical support on the documentation process during the monitoring visits. 5.1. Confidentiality in Grievance Documentation Records of grievances including information such as gender, age and location, makes grievance management easier. This information, however should be protected from unauthorized people. The GMC should protect complainants’ confidentiality at all times. Specifically: • All information regarding grievances should be kept private. • Records of grievances including information such as gender, age and location, makes grievance management easier. THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 23 5.2. Proving Feedback to the Community The GMCs should provide regular feedback to the community about how grievance management is going on. This helps to build trust in the GMC. This meeting is also important for accountability. In this meeting, community members should be allowed to provide their own input and to ask questions. The meeting should be held after the quarterly UNRA meeting. The GMCs can request for time during any community meeting or organize their own. 24 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL Appendices Appendix 1: Grievance Referral Form UGANDA NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY (UNRA) COMMUNITY GRIEVANCE COMITTEE GRIEVANCE REFERRAL FORM TO: _________________________________________ __________________________________ Title of Appropriate Responding Authority Date __________________________________________________________________________________ Unit/Department RE:_______________________________________________________________________________ Grievance Summary The attached grievance has been received by the Grievance Management Committee and is being forwarded to you for a response for the following reason(s): Grievance or issue not within our jurisdiction. Grievance or issue outside UNRA project. Complainant preferred that your office handle the case FROM: ______________________________________ _____________________________________ Referring Official Title ____________________________________ _____________________________________ Signature Unit Attachment (Grievance Receipt) Grievance Receipt No:______________________ Complainant Signature: __________________________ or Complainant’s Name: _________________________ Date ______________________________________ Annex 2: Grievance logbook Sample THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL 25 26 THE GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HANDBOOK A GUIDE TO GRIEVANCE MANAGEMENT AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL