Chevron works in a range of operating environments around the world. Our community engagement initiatives are designed to address the needs of the communities and reflect our commitment to partnerships, sustainability and capacity building, as described in the programs below.
Chevron helps support the formation of sustainable enterprises, such as corn farming.
The Angola Partnership Initiative marked its five-year anniversary in 2007. Launched in 2002, the initiative's goals were to promote peace and stability and improve health and educational infrastructure. It also sought to help build the capacity of Angolan nongovernmental organizations and government development agencies and to help reduce poverty through agribusiness and the development of micro-, small and medium-size enterprises. Chevron leveraged an initial $25 million investment with $31 million in matching funds and partnerships from national and multilateral development organizations.
As of 2007, the initiative's most significant five-year accomplishments include:
- Establishing a micro finance bank, NovoBanco, in August 2004. More than $27 million in loans have been made to more than 5,000 micro- and small enterprises.
- Helping provide food, seeds and tools to approximately 2 million people across six provinces.
- Helping to organize 3,053 small agricultural producers into 32 associations, who produced and commercialized high-value crops.
- Increasing student enrollment at Angola's Faculty of Agrarian Science from 200 in 2003 to more than 700 in 2007, improving the country's technical capacity to revitalize agriculture.
In 2007, we undertook a review of the initiative's first five years to identify projects and processes to improve and replicate. More than 1,750 employees were surveyed and 158 internal and external stakeholders interviewed. Among the key findings, we learned that:
- Capacity building of government institutions and other local partners was vital for success.
- Projects contributing income generation and improved livelihoods were recognized as having the greatest impact and sustainability.
- Participatory approaches strengthened stakeholder engagement and local ownership of projects.
Chevron is investing an additional $2.5 million per year in second-phase program funds that extend through 2012. Based on the findings of our review, our second-phase strategic objectives are to continue building local organizational capacity and assist in reducing poverty by supporting the development and diversification of small and medium-sized enterprises.
An aerial view of the Niger Delta.
In 2006, Chevron Nigeria Ltd. (CNL) signed Global Memoranda of Understanding (GMOUs) with eight community groups and state governments in the Niger Delta. The GMOUs represent a new community engagement model in a region facing complex development challenges. This model is characterized by a participatory partnership with communities, state governments and nongovernmental organizations on community engagement initiatives. The GMOUs are intended to gradually shift control of CNL-funded community development programs from CNL to Regional Development Councils, which represent local communities.
In 2007, deployment of the GMOUs moved forward, with communities and their leaders beginning to embrace the model of community-driven planning and responsibility for the success of projects. We recorded the following progress:
- Three-year community development plans, which were created in 2006 following comprehensive sustainable-livelihood assessments, have been approved by project review committees.
- Individual projects have been prioritized and are now being scoped and funded by the individual councils. They include water, infrastructure projects, support for education, micro credit loans to support small business development, and vocational training programs.
- Council engagement with other government development agencies is improving. Through this process, we will explore how to leverage other development initiatives to improve the benefits this new model will bring to the communities.
CNL recognizes that success in the Niger Delta is measured in small increments, and the region continues to face challenges. It continues to support efforts to improve communication between councils and the communities and is committed to working with all stakeholders to address complex development needs in a coordinated and participatory fashion.
Seventh-grade science teacher Alison Althaus examines a class experiment.
Energy for Learning is a three-year, $18 million initiative launched in 2006 to support public education in school districts affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States. In 2007, Energy for Learning invested more than $10 million in 224 schools in 23 Mississippi and Louisiana school districts. As part of this effort, $2 million was invested in the construction of two child-care facilities in Mississippi, undertaken in partnership with Save the Children, a nonprofit organization.
Funds from Energy for Learning also supported academic resource needs, including computers and science lab equipment. For example, Pearl River Central School in rural Mississippi received a $100,000 grant to create two reading labs. In 2007, students in 10 first-grade classes and approximately 120 upper-elementary students who were testing below grade level on state proficiency tests took part in a daily reading-enrichment program. At the end of the 12-week program, reading skills for the first-grade students had increased by 10 percent, and 80 percent of the older students scored at proficiency or advanced levels on a subsequent test.
Students at a learning center in South Africa.
Since 2003, Chevron's alliance with the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership has helped establish learning centers in 50 under-resourced schools in Angola, Nigeria, South Africa and Venezuela. This alliance has benefited approximately 67,000 students and 1,850 teachers.
In 2007, Chevron partnered with The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation to expand the initiative to Lagos, Nigeria, where we are sharing program infrastructure costs and establishing four learning centers. Preparation of our four learning centers took place during the fourth quarter of 2007. The centers were opened in February 2008 and will provide resources for an additional 2,200 students and 60 teachers.
Learning centers are equipped with culturally relevant educational programming and technology to engage and inspire students. During a three-year partnership with a host school, teachers are trained to use the programming in the curriculum. The learning centers become hubs for community learning, providing information on topics ranging from HIV/AIDS to vocational training.
Other Discovery Channel achievements in 2007 included:
- Implementing assessment tools by trainers at all centers to gauge the effectiveness of the program technology and resources.
- Producing new programming on mathematics, geography and the science of plants, bringing the programming library to 142 segments.
- Thirteen Chevron-sponsored learning centers completing their three-year training period and attaining full self-sufficiency.