UNDP Country Office management normally leads in Stakeholder Response; a headquarters function will also support the SRM – if required.

The Stakeholder Response Mechanism can help affected people, government agencies, and other project and program stakeholders, start or restart dialogue, facilitate discussions, mediate disputes, enhance understanding of the facts, and undertake other activities that might help resolve concerns and disputes.

Who May Request the Stakeholder Response Mechanism?

Any person or community potentially affected by a UNDP-supported project may file a request for a response from the Stakeholder Response Mechanism, if they have raised their concerns with Implementing Partners and/or with UNDP through standard channels for stakeholder consultation and engagement i.e. through GRM and have not been satisfied with the response. The request must relate to a UNDP-supported project and a possible environmental or social impact, and identify how the Requestors have been, or may be, adversely affected by the UNDP project or programme.

If a person or community has a concern about the ability of the UNDP Project Management to respond fairly and effectively to the request, they have the option to file the request directly with the Stakeholder Response Mechanism at UNDP Country Office Pakistan. Requests can be sent to the SRM through through the e-mail.
 

What Happens After the Request is Submitted?

Normally, a Country Office Designee will review requests received through SRM, and after an internal review system, will decide how best to proceed with the process.

The Country Office Designee will first determine, by asking the following questions, if the request is appropriate for the Stakeholder Response Mechanism:

• Does the request relate to a UNDP-supported project?
• Have the requestors provided enough information to establish the possibility that they may be, or may have been, adversely affected by the project?
• Have the requesters attempted to resolve issues through Implementing Partner or UNDP project GRM processes?

The following are excluded from the SRM: 

1. Any complaint that is found by UNDP to have been filed fraudulently or maliciously; 
2. 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);
3. 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;  
4. 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;
5. For 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);
6. For 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);
7. Anonymous complaints.

If the request appears to be eligible, the appropriate UNDP Stakeholder Response Mechanism staff will then assess the potential for a response process to succeed. The UNDP staff may:

• Contact the requestor directly to learn more about the situation and issues that have led to the request;
• Contact other stakeholders within UNDP and among programme and project partners, to ask about issues raised in the request and ways to resolve those issues (maintaining confidentiality of the requestor’s identity if so requested)
• Suggest specific actions to UNDP and other stakeholders, if it appears that the complaint or dispute may be relatively easy for the stakeholders to resolve.

If the assessment suggests the need for a process of dialogue and negotiation among the requestor and other stakeholders through the SRM, the UNDP lead staff will propose such a process, and seek agreement among the primary stakeholders - including the requestors, affected people, project sponsors, the host government, and UNDP – on how to proceed. The process will be tailored to the needs of the requestors and stakeholders.

The involvement of the Stakeholder Response Mechanism will continue as long as the stakeholders believe it is beneficial, or until agreement is reached. One or more stakeholders may decide not to proceed while the process continues. If stakeholders leave, UNDP will decide if and when the process will end.

When agreement is reached among all participating stakeholders, the SRM will submit a report describing this agreement to all participating stakeholders.

Where appropriate, a plan for monitoring the implementation of the agreement will be part of an agreement, and UNDP Country Office will issue a monitoring/review report.

To learn more about the SRM and its procedures, please see our SRM Guidance Note.

For specific inquiries

Contacting the SRM
Please send your SRM-specific inquiries via email to: srm.pk@undp.org

 Submitting a Request
You may submit requests via our email (srm.pk@undp.org)
 

Complaints should be as specific as possible, describing current or potential adverse impacts that have a plausible causal link to a UNDP-supported project/programme and, if possible, the UNDP social and environmental standards/commitments that are believed to have been violated.