State Welfare Organization Complaint Mechanism

The office of Evaluation, Inspection, and Addressing Complaints in the SWO is responsible for conducting regular inspections to evaluate the performance of SWO staff as well as agencies and organizations providing services on behalf of the SWO. But persons with disabilities interviewed were either unaware of the existence of this office or said that they do not trust its impartiality and efficiency. Ziba, the woman with physical disability mentioned above, said that she never considered appealing to the SWO complaint office. She explained, “Staff working for SWO are all connected…. It would be as if I’m complaining about someone to themselves or to their family members.” Arezoo, a SWO staff member, confirmed that in her local office the complaint mechanism is not effective, saying, “In this office they try to make people withdraw their complaints either by discouraging them about any real results or by threatening them that if complain, they will lose the minimal services they have.”[40]