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Background: Local Communities are Key Stakeholders
Approach: Working to Increase Our Positive Impact
Performance: Examples of Our Activities
Background: Local Communities are Key Stakeholders
The ChevronTexaco Way states simply, "We will benefit the communities where we work." Across our operations, we develop, support and participate in a range of community programs and activities with the goal of positively contributing to the quality of life where we operate. In addition to being a visible expression of our values, developing trusting relationships with our host communities and helping address their needs is an important component of our license to operate and, ultimately, our business success.
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| Studies at the Politeknik focus on computers, telecommunications and electronic engineering. |
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But in many of the communities where we operate, poverty persists and multinational corporations such as ChevronTexaco increasingly are being called upon to fill roles that have traditionally been the domain of government, such as providing health care, education and basic infrastructure. We believe that as a private-sector company we cannot - and should not - take on the role of government. But we believe we can make many meaningful contributions to improving the quality of life in the communities where we operate and are focusing our resources toward helping to address these issues.
Approach: Working to Increase Our Positive Impact
Our goal is to be recognized as a leader in our industry in community engagement and development. We are proud of the many positive contributions we have made in the communities where we operate but also believe we can improve our effectiveness and increase the positive impacts we have in those places. As a result, we are taking an in-depth look at our approach in these areas, focusing on being more systematic in how we identify, assess and address community issues and more focused in the ways we support the communities where we operate. We are looking at issues such as:
- Sustainability of projects: We are working to better understand what makes community projects and activities have truly lasting impacts, not just in terms of financial sustainability but also in building the human and institutional capacity necessary to sustain long-term social and economic development. We recognize that we can more effectively work with local governments to help secure future funding and transfer a sense of responsibility. We also see further opportunities to develop and conduct activities in genuine collaboration with host communities to create shared ownership of the outcomes. We also are looking to develop more long-term relationships with nongovernmental and multilateral organizations, recognizing that the skills, expertise and resources brought to a collective effort can increase the impact any one sector can have alone.
- Assessing and responding to community needs: ChevronTexaco business units, working with local residents and, often, with nongovernmental or multilateral organizations, develop programs on a local level so that they can be tailored to meet individual community needs. Some business units have formal processes for engaging with local communities to assess their needs in advance of designing community projects. Others are exploring ways to better engage with host communities, working to help them define their own needs and to allow the company to gain a deeper understanding of how we can help address them.
- Measurement and evaluation: ChevronTexaco is looking at new ways to measure and monitor the long-term impacts and effectiveness of our community engagement and development programs. We believe there is a great deal we can learn in this area, and we are reaching out to experts from nongovernmental and development organizations to help us design and implement more effective measurement and evaluation processes.
Performance: Examples of Our Activities
Across its operations, ChevronTexaco develops, supports and participates in a broad range of community engagement and development activities.
In 2002, ChevronTexaco made community investments estimated at US$62.8 million worldwide in areas including education and skills training, human capacity building, health, small-business development, arts, and the environment. Over the past five years, ChevronTexaco's community investments (or the combined investments of the two legacy companies) have been essentially consistent year over year, ranging from approximately US$55 million to US$63 million annually.
The following are illustrative of our community programs, reflecting the geographic diversity of our operations and variety of community activities:
- Skills Development in Nigeria: Chevron Nigeria Ltd, ChevronTexaco's affiliate in Nigeria, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., in partnership with the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help and the Nigerian Opportunities Industrialization Centres, have developed the Technical Skills Acquisition Project. The project provides a yearlong job training program for youth in remote Niger Delta communities, where unemployment is acute. About 160 men and women have completed the program since it was started in 1996, and half have found paid employment in their field. ChevronTexaco has invested more than US$1 million in the project and plans to expand the program to 120 trainees per year.
- Technical Institute in Indonesia: In Riau Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI), a ChevronTexaco subsidiary, sponsored the Polytechnic Caltex Riau (PCR), the province's first elite polytechnic university. PCR offers study programs in computer science, telecommunications and electrical engineering. During its first year of operation in 2001, some 640 students - more than triple the capacity at the time - applied to the polytechnic. By 2010, the campus expects to enroll 5,000 students. The school is adding new study programs in 2003 and 2004 that match the province's business needs and contribute to its economy. CPI's support of the university includes capital outlays of US$5.45 million and operating funds for the first three years, estimated to be approximately US$1.3 million.
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| Politeknik Caltex Riau, sponsored by Caltex Pacific Indonesia, is the first university of its type in central Sumatra. |
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- Helping Street Children in the Philippines: Caltex (Philippines) Inc., a wholly owned ChevronTexaco affiliate, is working with the government to help Philippine street children move out of poverty. The Caltex Fund Street-to-School program, which was started in 1999 in partnership with two nongovernmental organizations in Manila, has provided shelter, scholarships and training for nearly 500 young people since the program began. Indirectly, the program affects thousands more who participate in various livelihood and skills training initiatives sponsored by Caltex. In 2002, Caltex brought in several new nongovernmental partners to expand the program nationwide. A companion program launched in late 2001, the Caltex In-Plant Training Program, provides practical work experience for the older youth in the program at the company's Xpress Lube stations and with Caltex retailers. In 2002, the Street-to-School program won the Institute of Petroleum's community initiative award.
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| In the Philippines, the company's Street-to-School program provides vocational training and scholarships. |
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- Supporting Education in Saudi Arabia: In Saudi Arabia and the Partitioned Neutral Zone, Saudi Arabian Texaco (SAT) contributes to health, education and cultural initiatives, including sponsoring the Al-Jasser Library in Saudi Arabia, which helps preserve the heritage of the Arabian Peninsula. SAT also sponsors the Al-Birr Charitable Society, which addresses the social and economic needs of Saudi citizens, providing training in a range of skills, as well as a number of other education programs and institutions.
- Small Business Development in Kazakhstan: In 1999 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan, Chevron Muniagas Inc. (CMI), ChevronTexaco's wholly owned subsidiary, launched a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Program, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the U.S. Department of State. CMI and its partners created the three-year SME Program with the goal of making community investments that promoted sustainable, grassroots economic development. The SME Program transferred entrepreneurial skills to local businesses, funded low-interest and no-collateral loans to Atyrau entrepreneurs, and helped prepare nearly 280 business plans, of which more than 25 percent were approved for loans. The program concluded, as planned, in 2002.
- Increasing Literacy in Latin America: Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, ChevronTexaco supports a variety of community projects, including building medical and dental facilities, providing homes for orphans, and drilling water wells. In particular, ChevronTexaco and its partners focus on supporting education projects in the region. In Venezuela, for example, 2,500 students have benefited from school restoration projects that the company has supported since 1996. In Brazil, 3,000 adults and children attained basic language competency skills through the company's national literacy program. In Colombia, a cultural and learning center built by the company serves 6,000 local children. In Argentina, ChevronTexaco's local affiliate and a partner built Ruca Quimpen, a school that provides lodging, food and medical services to 40 children and their families.
- Science and Math Education in North America: Since 1991, ChevronTexaco has sponsored Family Science, a program designed to build interest and skills in science and math. The program encourages children of diverse backgrounds, especially minorities and females, to consider science-based careers. Family Science includes workshops for teachers, parents and students in select locations in the United States, Mexico and the Philippines. By including parents in the training, Family Science increases the likelihood that learning and an interest in science will continue outside the classroom. Since 2001, more than 200 workshops have been held, and multiple scholarships have been given to instructors to expand the program in other communities.
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| The Angola Partnership Initiative helps spur economic development in war-torn Angola.
Read full case study.
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The Community Development Initiative Foundation seeks to continue its work in Papua New Guinea after our exit.
Read full case study.
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