Complaint Mechanisms & COVID-19: the Importance of Preparedness & Community Engagement

COVID-19 poses immense challenges to humanitarian operations. Aid agencies have faced imposed lockdowns and have been forced into a situation where personal interaction with people affected by crisis had to be minimised, both for their protection and that of their staff. Yet the ability of people affected by crisis to provide feedback and make complaints to those providing assistance remains as vital as ever.  This is why CHS Alliance and the Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, funded by the Dutch Research Council, have conducted research into how COVID-19 has affected complaint, feedback, and response mechanisms. These research findings present a snapshot of how organisations have met the sudden changes forced onto the sector by COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 and continue to meet Commitment 5 of the CHS.