Rights Compatible Grievance Mechanisms: A Guidance Tool for Companies and their Stakeholders

This guidance tool provides a set of principles, coupled with specific guidance points, to assist companies across sectors and contexts to build effective, rights-compatible grievance mechanisms at the operational level. The guidance tool also proposes a number of key performance indicators, combining quantitative and qualitative data, for assessing the effectiveness of grievance mechanisms designed in line with the principles it contains. This tool was developed as part of a project of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, focused on resolving grievances in the business and human rights arena. The project was in support of the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights (SRSG), Professor John Ruggie. Note: this tool was then piloted by five companies and an updated version of the principles and guidance points published in May 2011. The updated effectiveness principles for operational-level grievance mechanisms were included in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.