{"id":249749,"date":"2018-05-31T14:54:23","date_gmt":"2018-05-31T12:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/?p=249749"},"modified":"2018-05-31T14:55:32","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T12:55:32","slug":"is-it-too-difficult-to-file-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/news\/is-it-too-difficult-to-file-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it too difficult to file complaints?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NCP system cannot intervene on its own initiative, but is dependent on receiving complaints concerning failure to comply with the OECD guidelines on responsible business conduct.\u2018The grievance mechanism is used too rarely,\u2019 says Markus Rotevatn, Adviser for the Forum for Development and Environment, an association comprising 50 Norwegian organisations.<\/p>\n

The question is why?<\/p>\n

\"\"
Markus Rotevatn, Forum. Foto: Fredrik Naumann\/Felix Features AS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Resource-demanding<\/strong>
\n\u2018One answer we often hear from our members is that the process is too demanding in terms of resources,\u2019 says Rotevatn.
\nHe explains that small organisations in particular find it hard to spend several months preparing a complaint without knowing whether it meets the strict requirements or whether the company the complaint concerns will participate in the process if the case is accepted.
\nIt is particularly difficult to demand the necessary efforts from those affected by the breach of the OECD Guidelines when there are so many uncertainty factors.
\n\u2018They are also scared of raising the victims\u2019 expectations says Rotevatn, and adds that if a complaint is rejected, it can be challenging to defend the use of resources to the donors.<\/p>\n

\u2018Many wish that the arrangement was more in line with a notification entity, where it is not up to the organisations themselves to provide all of the documentation,\u2019 says Rotevatn.<\/p>\n

David and Goliath<\/strong>
\nIf the complaint goes on to mediation under the auspices of the NCP, the organisations must dedicate further resources to following the case up. According to Rotevatn, the organisations that have lodged complaints have felt that the process was drawn out.
\n\u2018They also experience an unequal balance of power,\u2019 says Rotevatn, and describes a feeling of being an activist faced with a wall of lawyers and endless resources, both in the NCP and the company the complaint concerns.
\n\u2018It entails a language and culture barrier, where all parties involved have a responsibility to understand each other better,\u2019 Rotevatn believes, and underlines how important it is that the organisations are taken seriously and met with respect.<\/p>\n

On the side of the business?<\/strong>
\n\u2018The NCP has over the past years maintained a particular focus on information activities aimed at businesses, without an equivalent effort targeting civil society. This has likely contributed to the organisations being left with the impression that the NCP is closer to business and industry than to civil society,\u2019 Rotevatn believes.
\nIn 2018, Norway\u2019s NCP plans to improve civil society\u2019s knowledge of the Guidelines and the grievance mechanism, and Rotevatn underlines that this dialogue is under way.<\/p>\n

Weak outcome for the victims?<\/strong>
\n\u2018When it comes to the outcomes, many people will probably focus on specific financial compensation for the victims, which is rare,\u2019 says Rotevatn.
\nHe adds that decisions on matters of principle, which set a precedent and lead to changes over time, can also be deemed a positive outcome.
\n\u2018The way things have been, though, some people may feel that just getting the complaint to the mediation stage is a victory, and that shouldn\u2019t be the case,\u2019 says Rotevatn.<\/p>\n

Right way to use resources?<\/strong>
\nHe points out that all organisations must consider at all times how they can achieve the best results. This may not always be through the national contact point system.
\n\u2018Large organisations with greater capacity and expertise and good business contacts may benefit just as much from direct dialogue. For small organisations, however, or when the company does not show any interest in the matter, it clearly strengthens their position to have the NCP as a door opener for dialogue,\u2019 says Rotevatn, and concludes:
\n\u2018We feel that the NCP system is important and the grievance mechanism is the best we have. As organisations, we should definitely become better at using it, but there is also a great obligation in being such a grievance mechanism. If this kind of voluntary arrangement that is used in the NCP system doesn\u2019t work, our focus will rapidly turn to more binding schemes for business and industry. The added value to the organisations is calculated somewhere between the required resources and possible results we can expect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norway\u2019s NCP handles a small number of specific instances. This does not necessarily mean that Norwegian businesses keep to the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":687,"featured_media":208835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"language":"en-GB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/687"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249749"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249931,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249749\/revisions\/249931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettsteder.regjeringen.no\/ansvarlignaringsliv2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}