Programme Feedback and Complaints Policy for ASDEPCO
Introduction
ASDEPCO is a community organization, committed to improving the quality of life of people by creating sustainable solutions for community challenges. ASDEPCO envisages an inclusive world in which all persons enjoy their human rights and achieve their full potential. An open attitude to feedback and complaints on our work is paramount to ASDEPCO’s ability to improve as an organization, facilitate learning, and to break down donor – recipient power dynamics when working with others.
This policy demonstrates ASDEPCO’s openness and responsiveness to any type of feedback including suggestions and complaints, to be accountable to all we work with and who may be affected by our work, most importantly people with disabilities and their communities as well as our partners. We want this policy to foster collaboration towards development outcomes that are owned by the people and communities we work with, and to give confidence and clarity on complaints handling.
1. Definitions
Feedback
Feedback is an opinion about ASDEPCO’s development or humanitarian work which may be positive (a compliment), neutral (such as a suggestion for improvement), or negative (a complaint). Feedback
is an instrument of accountability because it enables a dialogue. Being accountable to the people we seek to assist requires that ASDEPCO take into account their opinions, concerns, suggestions, and complaints.Complaint
A complaint is feedback expressing dissatisfaction about the standards of service, systems, processes, actions, or lack of action by ASDEPCO or its staff, volunteers or anybody directly involved in the delivery of our programme work. It is a criticism that expects a reply and would like things to be changed. Complaints could, for example, include a concern from someone we work with about the quality of programme delivery, a concern from a member of the community where we implement our projects, poor compliance with our policies and procedures, or a concern about the behavior of our staff, volunteers or contractors in correspondence with our Code of Conduct.
2. Scope of Application
ASDEPCO is committed to being fully accountable to persons with disabilities, their families and representative organizations, the wider communities or the sector or area we work in, or other stakeholders that we impact with our work. The ASDEPCO Programme Feedback and Complaints Policy applies to all feedback relating to ASDEPCO’s programme work, and ASDEPCO supports feedback mechanisms with our partner organizations. Feedback has to be about an activity for which ASDEPCO is responsible or is within our sphere of influence. However, the Feedback and Complaints Policy creates no independent legal obligations and no legal recourse in any court against a decision or activity taken by ASDEPCO.
Feedback and complaints are not:
• General queries about ASDEPCO’s work;
• Requests for information;
• Requests for additional budget;
• Contractual disputes;
• Requests to amend records, postpone deadlines, and transfer funds or goods.
The scope of this policy does not cover feedback to individual ASDEPCO Member Associations from donors or supporters on their domestic practices.
3. Purpose
ASDEPCO fieldworker talks with villagers in Cameroon. By maintaining a trusted and responsive feedback and complaints system, ASDEPCO seeks to integrate continuous learning and improvement into our organizational striving for excellence. This policy is a reflection of ASDEPCO’s value of professionalism and represents an important point of contact between our stakeholders and organizational operations.
The main purpose of this policy is to
- Comply with accountability and rights: which includes internal or external requirements and standards; peoples’ rights to have their voices heard; and for ASDEPCO to be held to account by communities, partners, and any other actor we collaborate with on the promises we make.
- Foster empowerment: the feedback mechanism as a way of empowering the communities we serve through participation and dialogue.
- Create trust and transparency by listening and being responsive.
- Serve prevention of abuse as people gain confidence and trust to report.
- Enable early warning: help identify risks and issues that can be remedied at an early stage.
- Support monitoring and evaluation: feedback as a way of improving programme quality through addressing concerns and issues raised by all relevant stakeholders.
4. Working with Partners
In support of our commitment to accountability, ASDEPCO accelerates efforts to ensure awareness amongst all stakeholders on the existence of our confidential global programme feedback/complaints mechanism. In ASDEPCO-supported projects regular information is provided on its existence and all partner staff should be made aware.
Effective partnership also involves recognizing that power imbalances exist, and we seek to demonstrate and encourage in our partners the attitudes and styles of working to change this dynamic. In this context, active listening and respectful but honest and timely communication play a key role in demonstrating our commitment to genuine partnership, ownership, mutual accountability, and learning.
It is important to clarify mutual expectations, the purpose of the partnership, standards, and compliance requirements at an early stage. ASDEPCO encourages the use of our programme feedback mechanism for positive, negative, or neutral feedback (compliments, complaints, or suggestions for improvement).
Thereby, we hope to grow trust and respect as well as a culture of joint learning. We likewise expect and actively support our partners to have (or be in the process of developing) their own feedback and complaints system adapted to the local culture which enables them to deal appropriately with feedback received from community members and target groups regarding work supported by ASDEPCO. Such accessible and contextualized feedback mechanisms and their setup need to be agreed on during participatory and inclusive project planning processes and laid down in the “Project Plan”.
5. ASDEPCO’s six Principles for Handling of Feedback and Complaints
5.1 Timeliness
While ASDEPCO aims to respond to all feedback, complaints need to be attended to within three (3) working days of receipt. This response includes seeking to make contact with the complainant, acknowledge receipt, and inform on the follow-up.
ASDEPCO aims to resolve all complaints within one (1) month of receipt. If a complaint cannot be resolved within this timeframe, the complainant will be kept informed monthly about the progress made to date and when they can expect to receive further updates.
5.2 Confidentiality
ASDEPCO understands that confidentiality is essential to the viability of any feedback system. For complaints, the complainant’s identity will be kept confidential to any organisation or individual outside of the investigation team. The details of the complaint will only be shared on a need-to-know basis. ASDEPCO will ensure the complainant’s details (specifically any identifying information) are securely filed and only accessible to the trained ASDEPCO personnel handling feedback. The complainant’s details will be used to make contact with the complainant to gather further information or update on the progress of feedback.
5.3 Mutual respect
All feedback is to be addressed in an equitable, objective, and unbiased manner. Everyone who makes a complaint to ASDEPCO will be treated with courtesy and respect. In return, ASDEPCO expects people who complain to communicate their concerns fairly and appropriately. Where complainants harass staff, behave abusively, or unreasonably pursue complaints, ASDEPCO reserves the right to withdraw or modify its complaints process and not to investigate feedback that it judges as unfounded or frivolous.
5.4 Participation & Accessibility
ASDEPCO is committed to promoting equal access and participation of all women, men, girls, and boys with disabilities in the communities in which we work. Participation of the target group and their community during project planning and implementation will ensure that we jointly create, implement, and support the development of feedback and complaints mechanisms which are made available to all stakeholders considering location, gender, age, ethnicity, disability, and language. Reasonable accommodation will facilitate access and use at the community level.
5.5 Commitment to Learning
ASDEPCO will log and monitor all feedback that meets ASDEPCO’s definitions as outlined in this policy. Acknowledging that learning outcomes are derived from both positive and negative experiences, both positive and negative forms of feedback (including complaints) will be incorporated into ASDEPCO’s procedures for monitoring feedback. The outcomes will be reported and analyzed to assist in the identification of systemic and recurring problems and inform improvements to service delivery.
5.6 Resources
ASDEPCO is committed to allocating resources to ensure ASDEPCO management, staff, volunteers and partners are aware of ASDEPCO’s commitment to receiving, responding to, and learning from feedback. ASDEPCO resources are also allocated for the training of specific staff to respond to feedback, lead effective case management, and provide appropriate follow-up to feedback and complaints received. Staff trained accordingly will form a complaints committee that will manage any investigation that might be needed and jointly take decisions and find a resolution.
Our partners are supported at reasonable levels through our joint project plans for the set-up of accessible and culturally adapted feedback systems by their own organisations.
6. Providing Feedback to ASDEPCO
Feedback including compliments, suggestions or complaints can be sent to: E-mail:
asdepco@yahoo.com
Anyone who wishes to provide feedback or lodge a complaint is requested to indicate his/her full name, relationship to ASDEPCO, and contact information. If you want to provide a complaint, please include as much information as possible (who, where, when, what). We do not recommend sending anonymous complaints, because it makes it more difficult for ASDEPCO to assess the case, to find an effective resolution, and record it.
Complaints should be provided within three months of the relevant incident.
In exceptional circumstances, ASDEPCO may be able to respond to a complaint that refers to a matter that occurred more than three months ago, but it will likely make it more difficult to resolve the complaint satisfactorily.
7. Dealing with Informal Feedback in ASDEPCO
ASDEPCO strongly encourages that informal comments and concerns about ASDEPCO’s work are raised with our staff or partner organizations as close to the activity as possible. This allows for immediate response and responders know the context.
All ASDEPCO staff are expected to actively encourage feedback and complaints and log it on behalf of any stakeholder from the community, our target groups, the staff of our partner organization, or from any Association for Disabled Persons
In ASDEPCO any feedback received which may constitute a suspicion or evidence of a safeguarding or criminal incident is taken seriously and will be reported and investigated through established procedures. Under no circumstance should an individual undertake an incident investigation outside of the formal ASDEPCO mechanisms.
8. Governance and Accountability
Governance and management policy implementation actions:
1. ASDEPCO will integrate feedback and complaints-handling mechanisms into relevant core programming processes.
Stage 1: Receiving the complaint
1) Activity or behavior related to the ASDEPCO program prompts feedback
• The feedback may come from an internal or external stakeholder e.g. ASDEPCO staff, volunteer, partner, or community member.
• Feedback may be positive or negative.
2) The individual may provide feedback through the appropriate feedback provided to an ASDEPCO
staff member (in verbal or written form).
• Safeguarding concerns are handled in alignment with the ASDEPCO Safeguarding Policy.
Stage 2: Acknowledging, assessing and investigating
3) The feedback is categorized as positive or negative.
• Positive feedback is recorded and shared with the appropriate ASDEPCO team members for learning purposes. The provider of feedback will receive an acknowledgment of receipt.
• Negative feedback (i.e. complaints) will follow the below procedure
4) The responsible staff confirms to the complainant that the complaint has been registered within 3 working days and requests further information as required. The staff member will verify the complaint is indeed related to ASDEPCO/partners’ activity. Identify complaints (where, what, etc.).
5) The complaints committee (trained responsible staff and senior members of staff) will discuss the case and investigate as necessary, applying appropriate case management.
• Confidentiality of the complainant will be maintained, and stakeholders only involved on a need-to-know basis. If necessary, external investigators may be used to support interviews and fact-finding.
Stage 3: Resolving the complaint
6) If the complaint is deemed to be legitimate, a solution will be found (in agreement
with the complainant, if appropriate).
• If the complaint is deemed to be unfounded or not solved satisfactorily, the complainant will be informed, including the possibility of appeal.
• Until the complaint is closed, the complainant will be kept updated monthly.
Stage 4: Documenting and learning
7) The details of the complaint and documentation of the handling process are recorded in the ASDEPCO feedback register. The complaints register will be used to inform organization-wide learning processes. A report with anonymized information and learnings will be produced annually and submitted to Executive Management.