Complaints Policy

Purpose of the Complaints Procedure

HIV Young Leaders Fund (HYLF) values feedback on our programs. In order to ensure we are responsive to any concerns or grievances that organizations or individuals have about HYLF, we have developed a Complaints Procedure.

The purpose of this Complaints Procedure is to register, handle and manage concerns about HYLF on its policies, programmes or activities in a transparent and effective manner. An important objective of this procedure is to provide insight into the way we deal with our partners and other stakeholders.

This Complaints Procedure relates to complaints as defined below. Other – more general – feedback, questions or requests for information, are not covered by this protocol. Processes on how queries other than complaints are managed are determined by HYLF’s Steering Committee.

General Guidelines

  1. This procedure covers all types of complaints that are submitted to the HYLF.
  2. Complaints can relate to all activities of the HYLF, including policies, funding priorities, funding mechanisms, grants awarded, communications, recruitment, governance, etc.
  3. All complaints, fulfilling criteria outlined below, will be responded to in a timely manner and on a case-by-case basis. Official responses will be given to individual cases within four weeks of receiving the complaint.
  4. HYLF Steering Committee (SC), jointly with the HYLF coordinator and other relevant staff, review all complaints on an annual basis and determine whether any structural problem exists. The Complaint Coordinator, who is a member of the SC, is responsible for filing complaints and managing the archive.
  5. The SC reviews this procedure once per annum.
  6. All complaints are treated as confidential and communication regarding the complaint will remain between SC members, HYLF Director and the complainant – unless complaint directly relates to other parties.

To read the full Complaints Policy, please click here.

Procedure

  1. A complaint is defined as a grievance or concern submitted verbally (by word of mouth) or in writing (by e-mail or letter) directed to the HYLF. Complaints have to be related to any action of the HYLF and/or of an HYLF individual employee and/or of an HYLF body under the responsibility of the HYLF i.e. under governance of the HYLF SC.
  2. Complaints can be received by any member of the SC or Director and are managed as intended in this Complaints Procedure when received by the Complaints Coordinator (complaints@hivyoungleadersfund.org).
  3. A complaint can only be taken into consideration when it includes the following:
  • Full name
  • Organisation/affiliation (if any)
  • Nature of concern/issue
  • Recommendations to address concern/issue [optional].

Please note: Anonymously submitted concerns cannot be formally handled as complaints, as in the complaints procedure it is instrumental that the possibility exists to distinguish comments from factual issues that need to be addressed. Anonymous comments should nevertheless be followed up to see if it refers to an actual matter requiring attention and/or for reference to the complaints procedure.

To submit a written complaint, please send to the Complaints Coordinator at: complaints@hivyoungleadersfund.org. We suggest first reading our full policy here before submitting.