IFRC - Haiti Case Study 1

7/29/2019 IFRC - Haiti Case Study 1

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International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Beneficiary Communication and Accountability

A responsibility, not a choice

Case Study: Questions andcomplaints in Haiti

A comparative case study on questions and complaints mechanisms/Haiti/

December 2011

Introduction

The ollowing case studies outline two options or Complaints and Response Mecha-

nisms used during the Haiti Earthquake Operation by the International Federation o

Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and British Red Cross (BRC).

A semi-formal complaints and response mechanism byIFRC

Background

The provision o shelter to earthquake survivors is a complex and emotive issue.

In Haiti, communities can be quick to react to rumors and the perceived mishan-

dling o projects. This can lead to tensions, demonstrations and even violence, which

slows project implementation, creating even more unrest. Allowing survivors to ask

questions and raise complaints can ease this tension and tackle rumors beore they

spread.

It was recognized that this would be critical in the case o Annexe de la Mairie camp

in Port au Prince, where the IFRC was building 350 transitional shelters or a commu-nity o approximately 900 amilies. The selection o some amilies over others could

problems within the camp and put the vulnerable amilies who did receive a shelter

at risk o retaliation and resentment by those who were not selected.


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In a bid to relieve this tension, the IFRC beneciary communication department

piloted a questions and complaints line, capable o answering common questions,

explaining the beneciary selection criteria and alternative shelter options and

logging complaints or the Red Cross to ollow up and respond to. Ater a success-

ul rst three months, the system was gradually expanded to cover more shelter

sites and communities where the IFRC was stopping ree water trucking.

The set up

The questions and complaints line was one element o an overall communica-

tions campaign in the camp, aimed at making sure people clearly understood the

shelter project and their options. Alongside the questions and complaints line,

posters, a sound truck and community mobilizers were used. The system was set

up in agreement with the shelter department, but was largely led by the Bene-

ciary Communication team.

It was decided that an external company would be used to handle calls, rather

than establish an internal call centre. There were several key reasons or this:

Alackofcapacitywithinthebeneciarycommunicationteam.

TheexistenceofaskilledexternalpartnerinHaiti,whowasalreadyrunninga

public call centre, with an established web site and inrastructure. As a local,

qualied organization, Noula understood the sensitive nature o complaints

and had already incorporated beneciary eedback into their system.

Thebenetsforbeneciariesinallowingthemtocomplain througha third

party, rather than directly to the Red Cross provided distance between the per-

son making the complaint and the organization they were complaining about,

making it less intimidating or beneciaries to raise questions and complaints.

The Noula website (http://www.noula.ht/) was set up by Haitian technology com-pany, Solutions, to log calls and SMS rom Haitians on an online map with the

aim that Government and NGOs could see where the areas o need are. Noula

took over rom experienced global crowd sourcing experts Ushahidi (http://www.

ushahidi.com/) when they nished their Haiti project in August 2010.

How does the system work?

Annexe residents can SMS or call the Noula call centre or ree and ask a ques-

tion or log a complaint about the Red Cross shelter projects. Call centre sta are

provided with a detailed Q&A o standard questions they might be asked. The

Q&A is based on common questions asked o the community mobilization team

and on the issues beneciaries will most need answers to. For example how are

amilies chosen or the shelters? and what happens i I dont get a shelter? Any

questions or complaints Noula cant answer are logged and ollowed-up by the

Beneciary Communication and shelter community mobilization team.

The calls are logged on a private page within the Noula website, which only the

Red Cross has access to. This maintains the privacy o callers and eases concerns

o operational colleagues that issues with their project would be aired on a public

website.

Once a week, the beneciary communication team run a report rom the Nou-

la website, categorize all calls and then identiy the ollow-up needed with the

shelter community mobilization team. Follow-up can include nding out whena rental grant will be available to re-checking a person has been assessed cor-

rectly. The nal outcome o each query is recorded and the length o time it took

rom the person rst calling Noula to their issue being resolved. A weekly report


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is provided to shelter community and construction teams, outlining call statistics

and ollow-up, as well as key issues and recommendations. The Noula report has

regularly infuenced beneciary communication activities. For example, ollow-

ing an increase in calls asking about livelihoods support more inormation was

supplied to the camps via leafets, posters and sound truck.

Since its launch in October 2010, Noula has been expanded to cover all sites

where the Red Cross shelter department is working and was advertised in com-

munities where the Red Cross was stopping its ree water trucking. The Noula

system is advertised via posters, leafets, SMS and sound truck in the communi-

ties where it is available. In the initial stages, Noula was only ree to call or Voila

mobile customers and so a ree-phone Voila phone was available each day in the

camp to beneciaries using other mobile providers. The number is now ree call

or all networks.

For each issue, call centre sta are provided with a detailed Q&A in the local

language. This Q&A is updated regularly to take account o developments in proj-ects, or issues being raised repeatedly by callers. The Noula call centre sta are

also provided with regular briengs and updates on Red Cross projects and have

visited Annexe de la Mairie camp to speak to people using the service.

In its rst year the Noula call centre handled 1400 calls rom communities

throughout Port au Prince 100% o these calls were resolved.

Lessons learned

What works well?

Intwoevaluationsoftheservice,85%ofcallersreportedbeingsatisedthe

Noula system, with beneciaries reporting they appreciate being able to eed-

back and make complaints to Red Cross.

Intherstevaluationonly45%ofcallersweresatisedwiththeRedCross.This highlights that even i beneciaries are not satised with a project or or-

ganization or dont get the answer they want, they still value the opportunity

to ask questions and raise complaints.


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Usinganoutsidecompanymeanstheserviceisimpartial,asRedCrossstaff

does not answer calls. Although callers are encouraged to leave contact details

so the Red Cross can respond personally to their query, the option to raise is-

sues anonymously is available, although so ar no caller has chosen to do this.

Anoutsidecompanyisalsomoresustainablethanhiringanin-houseteam,which would leave the burden o salary costs and inrastructure or the Na-

tional Society. The current model can be scaled up or scaled down depending

on need.

UsingthecallcentretomanagequestionsonaspecictopicallowsRedCross

to provide a Q&A that is detailed enough or call centre sta to manage the

majority o callers questions. On average, Noula answers 60-70% o questions

without requiring the Red Cross to ollow up removing considerable burden

rom the organization and providing community mobilization sta with a re-

erral system or beneciaries that have questions or complaints that cannot

be answered at the time in the camp.

Simplyhavingaquestionsand complaintsserviceencouragesprogrammesto be more accountable to their beneciaries and ace up to problems in the

programme because there is a regular weekly report highlighting any issues

clearly

TheNoulasystemcanactasanearlywarningindicatorofproblemsinthe

community and can also be used as a tool to negotiate a solution. For example,

an increase in complaints about the late payment o rental grants led to more

communication with camp residents to explain the delays, provide assurance

that grants would be paid and so mitigate rustrations. Additionally, the num-

ber o Noula complaints on this issue was used as a negotiating tool to encour-

age the nance department to speed up the payment process

Theevaluationshowedthataquestionsandcomplaintslinecanbuildtrustinan organization. To the beneciary, it suggests the organization cares enough

to listen to their concerns

Theserviceiswelladvertisedandexplainedincampsandcommunitiesandis

ree to call

Havingaquestionsandcomplaintslineworkedwell,butaspartofanoverall

package o communications activities rather than a stand-alone service.

What didnt work well?

Intheinitialstages,therewasnota clearenoughprocessforrespondingto

calls and many callers questions went unanswered or several weeks.

Workingwith an outside companywas less responsive than havingan in-

house team and it meant problems around how calls were logged by Noula in

the early stages took longer to be resolved.

Ensuringthatprogrammesarewillingtotakeonboardcomplaintsandactu-

ally make changes to their projects is dicult and it can be hard or communi-

cations to enorce this, while still maintaining good working relationships with

their colleagues.

InonecampwhereNoulaisoffered,itisrarelyused.Thisisbecausethecamp

residents are not interested in the shelter options IFRC has to oer them. The

system will only work when people have an interest in what the organization

has to oer and a belie that something will be done about their complaint.

What could be done better next time?

Itiscriticaltoplanaquestionsandcomplaintsservicecloselywiththepro-


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gramme involved. They need to be a part o the planning process so they can

understand and agree exactly what their role is in responding to the inorma-

tion that comes in and also what inormation they can easibly respond to and

act on. It is also important to involve PMER in the planning process because a

questions and complaints service should orm part o monitoring plans.

Alotofpreparatoryworkisneededtodetermineexactlyhowaquestionsand

complaints system will unction. How will the calls be answered? How will

you check this? Who will ollow up the calls? How will the company or team

you use record their inormation? What path will a caller ollow through the

system? What is a complaint and how should it be managed?

Propertrainingneedstobeprovidedtoeveryoneusingthesystembefore it

launches, including communications and programme sta.

Theorganizationalculturemustbeopentomakingchangesbasedoncom-

plaints. There needs to be a willingness by programmes to adapt their work

based on the eedback or complaints being received rom beneciaries.

British Red Cross Complaints and Reponses Mechanism

Background & Rationale

The British Red Cross (BRC) set up a ree in-house beneciary phone hotline com-

plaints and response mechanism (CRM) as part o their Delmas 19 Integrated

Neighborhood Approach (INA), a community regeneration programme in post-

earthquake urban Haiti. The establishment o the CRM is part o BRCs commit-

ment o accountability to beneciaries, to provide a eedback channel and ensure

two-way communication, as well as improving programme quality and unction-

ality. A phone line was decided on as an appropriate CRM given the low levels o

literacy and widespread mobile phone ownership in the area. It was also con-

sidered the most cost-eective and condential way to manage eedback andresponse. The CRM is imbedded into the programme and is an essential part o

programme delivery.

Establishment and running of CRM

BRC set up the CRM beore the rst phase o programme implementation in Del-

mas 19 the distribution o 950 cash grants as the rst step o the livelihoods

component o the INA project. The call centre consists o one or two sta man-

ning two ree phone lines. The call centre sta are jointly managed by the ben-

eciary communication delegate and the beneciary accountability supervisor

part o the livelihoods programme team.

The establishment o the call centre was preceded by the design and implemen-

tation o a training session or all eld sta in accountability and the importance

o complaints and response mechanisms. This included role-play scenarios o re-

ceiving and handling complaints in the eld, when to reer beneciaries to the

call centre, and communications skills related to complaints handling.

Call centre procedures were established and two call centre sta hired and trained.

BRC tried to anticipate as many problems as possible and designed fow charts o

responses to these complaints / questions. A question and answers document pro-

duced, that is updated on a regular basis to refect programme developments and

eedback rom the community. Finally, a call log template was designed in Excel.

Beore the launch o the hotline on 5 April 2011, the CRM was discussed with the

community and the Committee a group o 20 individuals who represent the


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community in the programme implementation area in meetings and then ad-

vertised via posters.

Looking to the uture, the call centre will continue to unction as a central part o

the INA. As the INA team reorganises to create one community mobilisation team

in the centre o the structure, as the ace o the programme to the community,

the CRM will sit alongside beneciary communication within this central team.

Lessons learned

What worked well?

Setting up the CRM as an in-house system has meant ull integration into the pro-

gramme and rapid response to complaints. It is critical to programme delivery and

development and has improved the quality and eciency o the programme, in-

cluding identiying potential cases o raud and infuencing the programme design.

A phone hotline is an appropriate choice o CRM in an urban context where there

are a large number o people involved and where almost everyone has a phone.Working in such a conned space such as an inormal urban settlement like Del-

mas 19 means that BRC eld ocers are constantly in touch with beneciaries

and it is impossible or them to answer every question or complaint; the hotline

has taken the pressure o eld sta who can reer certain queries to the call

centre directly. It has also been supportive to the programme teams to have ben-

eciary communication involvement in the setting up and running o the CRM.

The call centre has allowed BRC to improve the quality o the INA programme

by catching issues early on, particularly helpul in a livelihoods programme with


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cash grants distributed via SMS and prone to technical hitches. The process al-

lows or automatic logging o complaints, which itsel is oten a laborious process

to put in place. Beneciaries value being given the opportunity to raise concerns

and ask questions, even among those who have never used the hotline.

Challenges

The BRC CRM was set up in a very short time rame approximately two weeks.

Ideally more time would be allowed or set up. It would be more accountable to

precede the set up by a participatory process to determine the best channel or

a complaints mechanism and it is recommended that time be planned or this.

The hotline was not well publicized at the beginning, due to operational stas

hesitation that this would lead to the excessive use o the hotline or complaints

not relevant to the programme. However this turned out not to be the case, and

thereore the CRM was publicized more actively later in the programme. The

more publicity it gets, the better.

The small size o the CRM makes it easible to be integrated into the programme

an essential part o its success in this context. However those looking to set up

a hotline across multiple programmes would have to consider the potential or

this model to scale up.

Conclusion

Obviously there are dierences in type and scope in the questions, complaints

and eedback systems proled in this case study and one solution rom one op-

eration cannot necessarily be copied into other contexts. However, there is no

question that the CRMs in Haiti are appreciated by beneciaries and providesvaluable inormation to the programme departments. Maintaining a sae work-

ing environment or both shelter and WATSAN teams and counteracting tensions

and rumors around programme delivery has worked well.

When planned and set up properly and in partnership with operational pro-

grammes, a questions and complaints line can play a key role in building trust in

an organization, fagging up potential issues early and maintaining a sae working

environment or sta.

Documents

IFRC - Haiti Case Study 1