Submit a complaint to the South Africa Country office

What to include in the complaint

▪Name, telephone or mobile number, email, and other contact details (if acting on behalf of someone or a community, please include your organization’s details and identify the community you represent).

▪ Indicate if you require your identity to be kept secret/confidentiality

▪ Details of the UNDP project you want to complain about: name, area, and what the project is about. 

▪ How the project has affected or likely to affect the people or the environment 

▪ Details of efforts, including other dispute resolution processes already explored to resolve their concerns.

Ways to submit a complaint
▪ Visit the UNDP South Africa offices at 351 Francis Baard Street, UN House Level 08, Metropark Building
▪ Call, SMS or WhatsApp: 063 409 4761
▪ Email to srm.za@undp.org

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1 - MANDATE

The mandate of the Stakeholder Response Mechanism (SRM) in UNDP’s South Africa Country Office will be to receive and seek to resolve complaints about actual or potential environmental or social harm to affected persons arising from UNDP-supported projects in South Africa. In its accessibility to complainants and in its responses to complaints, the SRM will be gender-responsive, culturally sensitive, non-discriminatory, and inclusive. Complaints related to sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) will be treated in a survivor-centered manner and ensure referrals for safe and confidential survivor assistance.

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2 - ELIGlBLE COMPLAINTS

To be eligible for an SRM response, the complaint must: 

i)    relate to a current or proposed UNDP project;
ii)  explain how the complainants (or their authorized representative) have been experiencing or may experience adverse socio-economic or environmental impacts from the UNDP project; 
iii) indicate what steps, if any, have already been taken to try to resolve the complaint; such as the use of Implementing Partner project-level or organizational-level grievance mechanisms, communication with the project manager (or with the project developers for projects that have not yet been approved), and/or communication with the Project Board.
iv)  any complaint submitted by stakeholders who expressly voiced out concerns about communicating it directly with the Implementing Partner, a project grievance redress mechanism (GRM), and/or UNDP project managers/developers, in which case there might understandably have been no prior effort to resolve the complaint.

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3 - INELIGIBLE COMPLAINTS

The following are excluded from the SRM:

i)    any complaint that is found by UNDP to have been filed fraudulently or maliciously; 
ii)    complaints that relate to UNDP procurement or employment (these complaints should be referred to the appropriate mechanism, either the relevant Business Unit, OAI or the appropriate national government audit body or equivalent). 
iii)   complaints relating to projects that are not UNDP projects, projects where UNDP is one of several partners and is not responsible for the specific issues raised, or projects where UNDP’s role has ended, and UNDP has no feasible pathway to address the complainant’s concerns; 
iv)   complaints by people or groups who have already raised the same issue with respect to the same project and received an SRM response, unless significant new information is available or there has been a significant change in circumstances; 
v)   for complaint relating to UNDP projects executed by Implementing Partners: unless the complainant fears retaliation or other adverse consequences, complaints that have not first been brought forward and pursued in good faith a) through an Implementing Partner grievance redress mechanism (if one exists), or b) through dialogue with the Implementing Partner’s project manager and the relevant UNDP staff supporting the project (normally via the Project Board or equivalent); 
vi)   for complaints relating to UNDP Direct Implementation projects: Unless the complainant fears retaliation or other adverse consequences, complaints that have not first been brought forward and pursued in good faith a) through a project grievance redress mechanism (if one exists) or b) through dialogue with the relevant UNDP project manager (normally via the Project Board or equivalent);
vii)   Anonymous complaints.

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4 - PROTECTION OF THE COMPLAINANTS FROM RETALIATION

UNDP seeks to identify, reduce, and address the risk of retaliation and reprisals against people who may seek information on and participation in project activities, express concerns and/or access project-level grievance redress processes/mechanisms or UNDP’s Stakeholder Response Mechanism or Social and Environmental Compliance Unit. To minimize the risk of retaliation, the SRM will: 

i)   maintain confidentiality of complainants’ identities when requested; 
ii)  respond to complainant concerns or reports about retaliation; and 
iii) consult with and support the complainant to bring the complaint to the UNDP Accountability Mechanism at corporate level for review and action. If the complaint is related to Sexual Exploitation and Assault, additional steps as necessary will be taken to protect the confidentiality of the complainant and take pro-active measures to ensure referrals for safe and confidential survivor assistance. 
iv) ensure that an individual or group of individuals can freely exercise their rights to use any other complaint mechanisms under national or international law or the rules and regulations of other institutions, agencies, or commissions that they may otherwise have access to and wish to pursue, and it should be explicitly communicated that the existence and use of this SRM does not replace those mechanisms.