Task 4 - Conduct stakeholder engagement
The key element that underpins the principles of the grievance process is stakeholder engagement. A grievance process that has been developed through discussions and consultation with internal stakeholders and affected communities is much more likely to be trusted and used.
Consultations with internal stakeholders help to ensure that:
- internal stakeholders know about the grievance process
- internal roles and responsibilities in relation to the grievance process are agreed and understood
- potential internal barriers to having an effective process are addressed.
Consultations with external stakeholders help to ensure that:
- stakeholders understand what the grievance process is for (and, equally important, what it cannot address; e.g. requests for help or development projects or alleged criminal behaviour)
- stakeholders are aware of how to access it and how it works.
Discussions around the grievance process should be integrated into sites’ stakeholder engagement processes (see Section 3A).
A review of the grievance process should be conducted to assess how well it is understood and trusted and the extent to which it complies with the guidance set out here. Community Engagement Forums (CEFs) can also be a useful vehicle for monitoring the effectiveness of sites’ grievance processes.