Many of the Company’s future projects will be located in developing regions of the world, given that these areas are believed to contain the most promising prospects and undiscovered resources. This provides significant operational challenges and also raises questions about the Company’s role and responsibility in community development, social upliftment and the introduction or expansion of cash economies. Our participation in Oxfam Community Aid Abroad’s Corporate Community Leadership Program (CCLP) is helping to enhance our understanding of these issues and improve our community performance generally.
Community development is a complex task. It requires time, expertise and consideration of human rights issues that rarely have clear-cut answers. For example, is it right to introduce a cash economy to a tribal community that has survived for generations without it? How do you balance quality of life, including improved health and education, with the loss of traditional cultures?
CCLP participants visit Orissa, India
In 2004, the third year of the CCLP, ten BHP Billiton employees from eight different countries and representing all Customer Sector Groups participated in the program. They joined the Oxfam Community Aid Abroad team and representatives from their partner agencies in India to have open and frank discussions about such matters.
To add richness to the discussion, participants were exposed to a wide range of experiences in the eastern state of Orissa, India. The group viewed best practice examples of development work, were educated about the characteristics of effective community development methodologies, saw the negative impact that poorly managed minerals operations can have on impoverished communities, and were given the opportunity to improve their community dialogue technique with community groups.
2004 CCLP participant Gaston Moya, Human Resources and Communication Manager, Cerro Colorado, Chile said, ‘For me, the most important learning was about direct dialogue with the people of the community. Dialogue is not the same as talk; dialogue provides a deeper understanding of the values, passions, beliefs and paradigms that are at the core of a culture. It is the most important aspect of working with communities. Effective community projects are the consequence of honest and direct dialogue’.
Oxfam recommended Orissa on the basis of their long-standing experience in working with organisations and communities affected by large-scale infrastructure projects. BHP Billiton does not have operations in India at present; however, it is a very important country for the Company, both as a customer for our products and as a possible source of materials for export. We also have potential development opportunities in the country.
Program has wide-ranging benefits
The diversity of BHP Billiton people participating in the CCLP will help to ensure that the value of the program is transferred to all corners of the Company. Although every person on the program had specific community responsibilities either at a corporate policy level or directly at a site level, individuals came from very different areas including business development, corporate social responsibility, exploration, external affairs and community relations.
While the learnings for each individual varied, the whole group achieved a greater appreciation of a number of aspects of the community development process. These included:
- the importance of earning respect and building relationships with community members to allow robust dialogue to occur prior to implementation of programs
- the need to understand local issues from the local source rather than through a third party’s interpretation of those issues
- the time it takes for a community to reach consensus about a preferred community development strategy
- the need to involve experienced people with expertise in development techniques and methodologies if the community program is to be sustainable.
The inherent value of the program to the Company is that there is now a group of more than 40 CCLP graduates in positions where they can directly influence the Company’s practices and improve our community performance. It is also hoped that the CCLP will enhance our contribution to the longer-term development of social capacities and improve the well-being of individual people in communities where we operate.
Commenting on our involvement in the CCLP, James Ensor, Director of Public Policy at Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, says, ‘This cutting-edge exposure program provides a unique opportunity for BHP Billiton staff to further their understanding of community development and of the impacts of large-scale infrastructure projects on communities. The challenge for BHP Billiton is to apply these learnings to Company-wide policy and practice’.
For Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, the program is designed to influence the corporate sector to adopt policies and practices that enhance the rights and livelihoods of the poorest and most marginalised men and women in the developing world. Now that the program has been operating for three years, Oxfam Community Aid Abroad is planning a formal independent evaluation of the program to ensure it is also meeting their objectives.
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