 See also Chapter 4.10 on Conflict and Security concerning stakeholder engagement in conflict areas. 4.9 Accountability and Grievance Mechanisms     Provide alternative avenues to express concerns, including through operational level grievance mechanisms: Accessing remedies in Myanmar is very difficult if not impossible in many cases. There is – with good cause – little or no faith that the judicial system can currently deliver effective remedies. The frustration over lack of access to effective remedy for real or perceived damages to livelihoods can increase tensions between communities and ICT companies and their sub-contractors. Operational level grievance mechanisms – i.e. processes that allow concerns to be raised and remedied at the operational level, rather than at far away headquarters – are therefore even more important in Myanmar, where there are: few other outlets to resolve concerns 631 . Additional Myanmar factors include unresolved legacy issues; emerging opportunities to express concerns openly; a lack of experience in local Government in addressing complaints constructively and effectively; and in some cases a lack of organisations in communities with the experience and expertise to assist in moderating and mediating between the private sector and communities. In addition, there is frequent community frustration with buck-passing between a bewildering array of contractors and sub-contractors without a core focal point for engagement and grievances. Make operational level grievance mechanisms part of a broader community engagement strategy. This should start by developing the mechanism with input from stakeholders wherever possible. Using lessons learned from the grievance process can improve ongoing engagement with communities and avoid repeating activities that have led to previous grievances. A grievance process can help companies better understand how ICT activities are being perceived and impacting, positively or negatively, on local communities, acting as an ‘early warning’ system. Pay attention to language and literacy: Given the variations in literacy in communities and among workers and users, there should be ways of expressing views and complaints that do not rely on reading/writing and are available to speakers of ethnic minority languages. Technical lectures to communities should be avoided. Make grievance mechanisms accessible and understandable: The field research indicated that except in a limited number of cases when some fibre companies had posted emergency contact numbers on landmarks along the cable path, communities had no information on who to turn to with concerns about telecommunications infrastructure e.g. noise, safety etc. Once the infrastructure is installed, it should include contact phone numbers on the infrastructure so that local villagers are able to contact the responsible company if they have concerns about the equipment. There should then be a process in place behind the contact numbers to ensure that the complaints are addressed. Grievance mechanisms should be implemented according to the criteria established in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human 631 MCRB recently held workshops on grievance mechanisms and community engagement. See MCRB, “MCRB Holds Workshop for Business on Operational Grievance Mechanisms” (16 June 2015) and “Community Engagement by Extractive Companies is Essential for Success in Myanmar” (2 February 2015). See also the companies that have reported on their operations in Myanmar, some of which report that they have put specific operational level grievance mechanisms in place; Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, “Myanmar Foreign Investment Tracking Project”, ICT Sector (last accessed September 2015). CHAPTER 4.9: STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT & GRIEVANCE MECHANISMS 4 251