Chevron's community engagement programs are strategic investments in the future of communities and our business success — across cultures and continents and amid complex socioeconomic environments.
Our ability to build mutually beneficial long-term relationships is enhanced by investments that simultaneously provide lasting community benefits and direct business value. This approach involves working cooperatively with host governments, communities and civil society, nongovernmental organizations, and aid agencies to assess and understand socioeconomic conditions. Our three primary focus areas for community investments are improving access to basic human needs, enabling education and training opportunities, and promoting sustainable livelihoods. Each element helps contribute to socioeconomic progress. In 2009, Chevron invested $144 million in our global partnerships and programs: 48 percent in North America; 20 percent in Africa; 14 percent in Asia-Pacific; 14 percent in Eurasia, Europe and the Middle East; and 4 percent in Latin America.
Improving Access to Basic Human Needs
Improving the quality of life in communities where we operate requires having access to health care, food, water, housing, sanitation and other basic needs. Chevron leverages its funding, organizational capabilities, technology and personnel to aid communities. In Bangladesh, where we provide employment for 2,700 workers and meet more than 45 percent of the country's natural gas needs, we established three Smiling Sun clinics to provide health services to villagers. In 2009, a structure for a permanent clinic was inaugurated, and more than 100 teachers in Bibiyana received first-aid training. With the support of local and international partners, approximately 8,000 villagers near our Bibiyana and Moulavi Bazar gas fields receive services from these clinics each month. Such investments can stabilize local conditions to improve operating environments and foster economic development.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Our efforts to fight disease show how our long-term business interests and commitment to corporate responsibility are linked. Chevron is the first Corporate Champion of a three-year, $30 million investment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a public-private partnership created in 2002 with support from the United Nations. We are working with Global Fund grant recipients in Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines to stem the spread of these diseases. These are communities where we have significant operations and a large employee base, and where Global Fund partnerships can help leverage or expand our existing community engagement and public health efforts. In 2009, the second year of the program, all six of our in-country partnerships were under way.
We worked with a recipient of Global Fund resources in Thailand – Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) – to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and education among Chevron employees, Thai youth and Caltex customers in Bangkok. Together, we organized the first AIDS Education Youth Camp, strengthening leadership skills and HIV/AIDS awareness of 25 youth leaders. We introduced PATH's Parents Network to Chevron employees to help parents improve their understanding of HIV/AIDS and enhance communication about the disease with their children. PATH partnered with Caltex retailers and attendants to distribute approximately 40,000 brochures with HIV/AIDS information at Caltex stations in Bangkok.
Chevron Nigeria Ltd. and the National Agency for the Control of AIDS launched a Workplace Wellness program with 10 Lagos-based small and medium-sized enterprises and nonprofits. The program provides technical support, advocacy and a system for monitoring wellness practices.
In the Philippines, we are partnering with the Global Fund to fight tuberculosis, the sixth-leading cause of mortality and morbidity, according to the Philippine Department of Health. Thus far, our contributions have helped train more than 12,000 service providers to detect tuberculosis. Through these efforts, more than 6,900 new cases were detected, of which 1,300 were drug-resistant. To complement the Global Fund partnership, Chevron employees, Caltex retailers and service station employees participated in awareness events; Caltex.com/ph provided retailers with information and referrals. Through its network of Caltex stations, Chevron is planning an education and awareness campaign aimed at public- transport motorists. The campaign will focus on prevention and early detection.
In Angola, the Ministry of Health is our partner in combating malaria, where our Global Fund contribution in 2009 helped provide anti-alarial treatments to children under 5 years of age and pregnant women. More than 440,000 long-lasting, insecticide-treated nets were distributed to families to help with prevention.
Living With HIV/AIDS in South Africa
In the Dunoon community, near our refinery in Cape Town, South Africa, 50 percent of the people are suffering from HIV/AIDS. Many living with the disease have few opportunities to eat regular meals, which limits the effectiveness of anti-retroviral treatments.
When community leaders approached our community advisory panel about the urgent need to provide assistance to those living with HIV/AIDS, Chevron – collaborating with the Department of Social Development, community leaders and a local nongovernmental organization called Heavenly Promise – established the Dunoon Community Home-Based Care Center in 2009.
The program trained caregivers from the community who bring nearly 150 meals each week to homebound people with the disease. Beyond supplying funding to build and stock the facility, Chevron and its partners provided project management training to community women to run the center. Thus, the community has taken ownership of the center and keeps it sustainable. To learn more, please see the video at Chevron.com/Dunoon.
Responding to Natural Disasters
In the past five years, Chevron supported response, relief and recovery efforts after 21 natural disasters, engaging communities through local partnerships to restore access to health care, water, food and shelter, and to implement efforts for lasting recovery. In August 2009, Chevron, which partners with the China National Petroleum Corp. on the Chuandongbei gas project in China, donated $600,000 to enhance health care facilities and improve care at a hospital in rural Dazhou. This was Chevron's second major contribution in the Sichuan province. Since 1983, the company has directed more than $100 million to disaster relief and recovery.
In Indonesia, we responded to a series of earthquakes by providing immediate assistance, including dispatching a Chevron medical team of three doctors, 12 paramedics and a psychologist. We transported 50 Indonesian Red Cross doctors in a company-chartered plane and donated food, water, clothing, medicine, sanitary supplies and carpentry equipment. The company matched the funds employees raised for relief, recovery and rebuilding.
Enabling Education and Training
Our investments in education and training contribute to local development and build constructive relationships that improve our ability to conduct business.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
Chevron invests in STEM programs to support its business objectives to help develop employment skills and contribute to economic progress. In 2009 in Thailand, we sponsored summer camps in geology and geophysics for high school students. We also supported graduate studies in petroleum geoscience at Chulalongkorn University and provided 61 scholarships in engineering and geoscience.
Chevron's California Partnership is a $7 million initiative launched in 2009 to broaden our partnerships with nonprofits that support underserved communities. Initially, 18 nonprofits were selected that provide education, entrepreneurial skills and job training in communities where we operate. Our contribution brought our total community investment in the state to $21.8 million in 2009.
Chevron Philippines consolidated its education and job training initiatives for underserved youth under the Chevron Energy for Learning™ program. The company partners with local communities, governments and nonprofits to provide opportunities for at-risk youth, who include former street children, out-of-school youth and children in conflict with the law. Since 2006, the KAPATID program, a partnership with the Marcellin Foundation and the Education and Employment Alliance, has provided technical training and job placement services to more than 337 out-of-school youth, at least 73 percent of whom are now employed. The Loaves and Fishes program in 2009 opened three bakeries operated and managed by former street children and children in conflict with the law. And through the Caltex Mentor Program, more than 1,000 volunteers – from the workforce, retailers and business partners – have helped improve literacy at 24 public elementary schools for the past five years.
Chevron's refinery near Cape Town, South Africa, trains disadvantaged students, helping address a shortage of local skills in the oil, gas and chemical manufacturing industries. Students participate at the refinery in a mentorship program with employees and managers. In 2009, we funded 11 student scholarships to Stellenbosch University, The Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Cape Town. We provided artisan training to 179 students from Northlink College.
Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, is the country's first institute to train students for fieldservice jobs in the country's petroleum industry. In 2008, Chevron and partners launched the institute, which in 2009 added faculty, facilities and courses and admitted a second class of more than 200 students. The first class will graduate in 2010.
Partnership to Provide Education
Since 2002, Chevron and the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) have worked with government education agencies to improve learning and complement national education priorities. Through the initiative, Learning Centers are established at underserved primary schools. Teachers receive three years of training and mentoring and are provided with televisions, DVD players and libraries of high-quality, locally relevant educational videos to complement their lesson plans. So far, 65 Learning Centers have been established in Angola, Nigeria, South Africa and Venezuela, including 15 new centers in South Africa and Brazil in 2009. More than 2,400 teachers, 104,000 students and 312,000 community members are involved. Ninety-three percent of Chevron-sponsored Learning Centers are self-sustaining after three years. Since the program began, 43 Chevron-sponsored schools graduated from the program and continue operations under their own management
Chevron and DCGEP build local capacity by hiring trainers from the community and empowering teachers to be agents of change. Participating schools report an increase in student enrollment, improved motivation and academic performance, and a decrease in absenteeism. The centers become focal points in the community. Parents and community groups lead projects addressing topics such as the environment, AIDS, teen pregnancy and malnutrition. During a garbage crisis in Caracas, Venezuela, the community used video programming and the Learning Center to inspire a grassroots movement to improve trash collection — and subsequently launched a recycling campaign to increase awareness of environmental issues.
In Vietnam, we are working to increase educational opportunities for children in the Mekong Delta. In 2009, in partnership with the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, a Chevron-led consortium – composed of Chevron Vietnam, Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd., and PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. – granted scholarships to 235 schoolchildren in Can Tho. The initiative is part of a larger program that we led to provide scholarships to more than 700 children in Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Can Tho.
Chevron Canada is a 16-year sponsor of the Chevron Open Minds program, which began in Calgary, to improve students' literacy, writing skills and desire to achieve through experiential learning. In 2009, we committed an additional $500,000, bringing total funding, including matching grants, to more than $4 million since our sponsorship began. The program motivates students from first through eighth grade by moving their classrooms for weeklong excursions to the Calgary Zoo, the Glenbow Museum, the Cross Conservation Area and the TELUS World of Science. Since 1993, more than 50,000 students and 2,000 teachers have participated in the awardwinning program, which was expanded in 2009 to Fort McMurray, Alberta, and to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Chevron Human Energy School Network was established in 2008 in Thailand in collaboration with the Ministry of Education's Office of the Commission for Basic Education to teach students about environmental issues such as water use and waste recycling. In 2009, the program included 20 schools from 18 provinces, involving teachers, students, parents and community members. Chevron provides financial support and technical assistance. In 2010, an additional 30 schools will participate.
Supporting Sustainable Livelihoods
Chevron is committed to improving social, environmental and economic conditions where we operate. Our focus on sustainable employment opportunities promotes self-sufficiency. With partners, we identify programs to promote a better standard of living, create a more stable operating environment and improve relationships.
Computer literacy is essential to compete in today’s global economy. In 2007, Chevron partnered with the Fisheries Department of Malaysia to equip a community center in the rural fishing village of Kuala Pahang, in the Pekan district, and provide basic computer and language classes. The program has had more than 420 registered students, ages 5 to 50, since the program began and has helped improve the computer literacy levels of residents, including fishermen. In 2009, Chevron transferred full project management to the Fisheries Department and a fishermen’s association, which now continue the programs.
Promoting Small Enterprise Development
Angola's NovoBanco is a micro-finance institution set up by Chevron and other donors in 2004. As of the end of 2009, the bank had made nearly $49 million in loans to thousands of entrepreneurs since its founding. In 2009, it opened five more branches for a total of eight, and served more than 35,000 clients. Of the nearly $9 million in loans made in 2009, $5 million were invested in projects that focused on the 2009-2010 agriculture planting season. In 2010, NovoBanco had plans to change its name to Banco BAI Microfinanças.
With our partners, Chevron supports the Luanda Business Incubator, which provides office space, business training and coaching for micro and small entrepreneurs. Six new companies have been created, generating 69 jobs and averaging $378,000 in sales per year.
In Indonesia's East Kalimantan and West Java, Chevron partnered with the government-owned Permodalan Nasional Madani and Baitul Mal Muamalat to create the Community Enterprise Development Program. This program strengthens community-based business groups, individuals and owners of small shops. The program offers loans through a micro-finance institution, and it also provides business management training.
Promoting Women
Chevron Vietnam recently began working with the nonprofit Save the Children in the Mekong Delta to support sustainable livelihoods for disadvantaged women. Our commitment is designed to improve the economic status of 850 women in lowincome households in the areas of animal husbandry, homestead gardening, aquaculture and service businesses. Assistance includes providing access to financial services, including loans and financial-skills training. The program engages local organizations, such as the women’s unions, and strengthens their ability to deliver services on an ongoing basis. These programs are being implemented in areas where our gasto- power project pipeline will be located.
Chevron Bangladesh and nonprofit employment organization Hathay Bunano partnered in 2009 to establish a training center for underprivileged women of Kamalganj, Moulavi Bazar. Hathay Bunano employs 3,500 artisans across a network of 33 rural cooperatives to create hand- knitted, crocheted and embroidered goods sold in markets around the world. The training gives women income-generating skills by creating sustainable, fairly paid, flexible and local employment opportunities.
Chevron also initiated a five-year, $250,000 scholarship program with the new Asian University for Women in southeast Bangladesh. It is the only university in Bangladesh exclusively for women. In 2009, the university enrolled its first undergraduates, with students from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
A partnership with the Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan and local government agencies began in 2009 to address high rates of unemployment and poverty among women in Astana and the Almaty area. The program focuses on training women in food preparation, home repair and child care. More than 440 women participated. Eighty percent found employment, and 10 percent started their own businesses. The project coincided with a government-initiated program, Road Map, to increase professional development and support employment and self-employment.
Stability Through Partnership
In 2005, Chevron Nigeria Ltd. (CNL) launched a model program that empowers communities to determine what they need to improve their quality of life. This collaborative process — involving CNL, communities, government and nongovernmental organizations — is designed to foster peace and stability in areas where we operate. Our program led to the creation of eight Regional Development Committees, now representing more than 425 communities and approximately 850,000 people. Some communities that once were hostile toward each other now work together to build hospitals, introduce electricity to rural areas and conduct job-training programs.
By the end of 2009, these committees were managing 192 infrastructure projects, of which 110 are complete. Among them are six solar-powered water projects in the Izombe region that have helped alleviate the perennial water shortage in some communities. Rural communities in the Bayelsa and Rivers states benefited from electrical expansion projects, and a new hospital was built for the Dodo River communities. Housing projects enabled displaced Itsekiri families to return to their communities, and more than 1.9 miles (3 km) of walkways improved access for Ilaje communities. Microcredit programs provided job training and opportunities for 1,600 men and women in the region.
Each committee signs a Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMOU) with CNL that is based on the principles of transparency, accountability and sustainability. CNL and its joint-venture partner, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., provide funding for governance, administration, project and partner costs. Since 2005, we have contributed more than $46 million to the committees. In 2009, the program received funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to build the committees’ administrative capabilities — the first time international donor support was provided. With this collaborative foundation in place, CNL negotiated new three-year extensions with all eight committees in 2009. Chevron and USAID established a new partnership in 2009 to build the capacity of these committees, working with other organizations in the region and establishing a growing network of support for development.
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts the workability of the GMOU, who still wonders if the GMOU can deliver in our time, today’s commissioning is an answer to your questions," said Berry Negresse, chairman of the Dodo River Regional Development Committee, at the opening of the 45-bed Amatu cottage hospital, a community- driven project in the Niger Delta.
Updated: May 2010