The Corporate Community Leadership Program is a joint learning initiative developed by the Company and Oxfam Community Aid Abroad (Oxfam CAA). This is the second year of the program, which aims to expose participants to the impact that community development projects can have on the livelihoods, living standards, health and rights of local communities. This year, 12 of our employees, accompanied by four Oxfam CAA facilitators, journeyed to India for two weeks, visiting villages in the eastern state of Orissa.
The Company participants in the program represented a diverse range of BHP Billiton businesses, locations and roles, from people involved in hands-on community affairs to senior management. Following a comprehensive briefing in Vizag, the group travelled to Orissa for a series of village visits organised by WIDA, a local NGO whose acronym derives from Integrated Rural Development of Weaker Sections in India.
WIDA's focus is on empowering village communities by establishing community organisations and facilitating capacity-building projects. Much of their work is directed at forming committees of people within a village and then within a federation of villages. This is aimed at giving people the opportunity to have their opinions heard.
A key learning from the Corporate Community Leadership Program is that leading-edge community development work is based on human rights. This means going beyond providing services and physical infrastructure and focusing on helping people through building social capital and organisational capacity.