SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 2, 2007 -- Chevron supports the calls for a peaceful resolution to the current situation in Myanmar in a way that respects the human rights of the people of Myanmar. Chevron's minority, non-operated interest in the Yadana Project is a long term commitment that will help meet the critical energy needs of millions of people in the region. Our community development programs also help improve the lives of the people they touch and thereby communicate our values, including respect for human rights.
Myanmar Community Development Program
The Yadana Project partners have invested in a model socio-economic program that positively improves people's lives in Myanmar.
The Yadana project community development programs have delivered the following benefits:
- 50,000 people along the Yadana pipeline now have free and improved healthcare
- Ten doctors now work in villages when there were none and thirty-three health care workers have been trained
- Local infant mortality rate is 1/6th the national rate
- Malaria mortality rates down by a factor of 10
- TB mortality rate halved since 2002
- Student enrollment in schools has doubled
- Forty-four schools have been built and 20 renovated in 23 villages
- Financial support to 350 teachers, library program to 16 schools, scholarship program for 1,050 pupils and computers at 8 schools
- Improvements to local roads and the building of 24 bridges have resulted in both public and private transportation that was nearly nonexistent before the pipeline project
- 6,300 projects loans for small businesses have been granted resulting in numerous enterprises that help generate economic development for local communities
Chevron also separately funds community programs on a regional level in Myanmar through support for PACT*, an international NGO. The PACT program includes a primary health/TB/HIV education and treatment program for 400,000 people in central Myanmar. The program has yielded considerable results with TB control rates dramatically higher than non-participating villages. Chevron's continued support will enable PACT to expand its work three-fold to 2,122 rural villages in 15 townships, eventually reaching an estimated population of 1.8MM people.
*For reference: PACT is a networked global organization that builds the capacity of local leaders and organizations to meet pressing social needs in dozens of countries around the world. Their work is firmly rooted in the belief that local communities must be the driving force in ending poverty and injustice.