Chevron has been doing business in Africa for a century. Wherever we work on the continent, we seek to improve the quality of life by employing and training local workers and investing in communities. Chevron's aim is to develop energy that will continue to support economic and social progress.
In 2010, the year Chevron began doing business in Liberia, we established the Chevron-Liberia Economic Development (C-LED) Initiative. Through this five-year effort, Chevron has committed $10.5 million to social investment programs in a country rebuilding itself after civil war.
Chevron is partnering with the Liberian government, national and international nongovernmental organizations, and donors to deliver sustainable economic benefits to women, children and youth. Our efforts are focused on health, education and enterprise development. Among the 52 C-LED projects, 42 have been fully executed, eight more are pending review. Some of the projects that have been implemented include:
Health
- Nationwide immunization against measles for more than 550,000 children
- Installation of modern public latrines that provide 50,000 people with better sanitation
- Water facilities in 40 communities that affect 100,000 people
- Renovation of the children-under-5 clinic at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, where 3,000 children are seen each month
- Enabling two doctors from Baylor University to examine an average of 3,000 patients per month
- An upgrade of general medicine, gynecology and maternity wards at Redemption Hospital
- Improved access to reproductive health services for vulnerable families in the under-served communities of Grand Bassa
- Seed capital for the Monrovia City Corporation to build the city's first green space/park area, install litter bins citywide and set up a recycling center
Enterprise Development
- Microfinance grants for women's groups and improvements to three local markets run by women serve more than 100,000 people.
- A three-year Mercy Corps program for more than 3,000 youth offers vocational training, mentoring, grants and microfranchising—a system that has created 150 small businesses.
- A Youth Action International program trained more than 300 women in beading, catering, cosmetology and tailoring and taught them how to market their products locally and internationally.
- The Entrepreneurship Center of Excellence for micro and small businesses was established at the University of Monrovia.
Education
- At Booker Washington Institute, a fully furnished computer lab for vocational training and state-of-the-art equipment for carpentry and machine workshops benefit 3,000 students every month.
- A YMCA computer training program educates more than 2,000 young people annually.
- Computers, printers and Internet access at a YMCA youth center now serve an average of 200 students per day.
- An information technology training computer lab—the first in the country—at Stella Maris Polytechnic Institute provides more than 2,000 students with computer training. Some receive training and testing to become Cisco-certified IT professionals.
In early 2012, Chevron announced a five-year agreement with Texas Children's Hospital of Houston, Texas, to expand the hospital's Global Health Corps initiative. The program brings American doctors to the most medically underserved populations in Africa to provide pediatric and maternal health care and professional health care training. Through this program, specialists sponsored by Chevron serve assignments at John F. Kennedy Hospital in Monrovia.
Updated: April 2013
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