Grievances - SIPEF Papua New Guinea

The SIPEF Grievance Policy provides the framework for all Group grievance procedures, which are adapted to their contexts.

Grievance procedures are public documents, and must be accessible to all stakeholders. Clear flowcharts are displayed in the public areas of the operations, in languages understood by the stakeholders.

Grievance procedures allow for an “escalation” of the grievances, akin to an appeal system.

Qualified, neutral third parties can be invited to support the resolution of grievances, if agreed by all parties to the grievance.

Aggrieved stakeholders are also free to decide that they prefer to use the legal system to pursue the resolution of their grievances.

People reporting grievances (“whistleblowers”) are protected, and stiff sanctions will be taken against any Group employees breaching this provision.

The reporting of a grievance is made as simple and safe as possible, in particular through dedicated pages on the websites of country operations.

A specific Group Policy addresses sexual harrassment and the reporting of sexual harrassment cases.

Gender Committees are set up in the operations to allow for education and mediation of gender issues.

The below Grievances dashboard includes the most significant grievances received by SIPEF since 2013, including all complaints managed through the RSPO Complaints Mechanism.

Some grievances can go through multiple phases, and involve various stakeholders.

A grievance might remain confidential during part or all its management, to respect the rights of the various parties involved and ensure an appeasement process.