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International Finance Corporation World Bank
Date: March 30 - April 3, 2009
City: Johannesburg
Organiser: The London School of Economics, Business-Community Synergies, CommDev
   
Contact Name: James Van Alstine, Rani Parker, Veronica Nyhan Jones
Telephone: 1.301.270.2241
Event Website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/geographyAndEnvironment/CEPG/communit
yCapacity/

 

IFC Helps Civil Society and Extractive Industries Work Together

All too often, civil society groups and oil, gas, and mining companies act as adversaries on social and environmental issues. IFC is playing a pioneering role, helping these two groups work together.

How? We recently sponsored training that taught members of NGOs from eight countries to collaborate with mining companies to better deliver services to communities in the vicinity of oil, gas, and mining operations.

The workshop was hosted by mining companies AngloGold Ashanti and Lonmin plc. Other sponsors included the London School of Economics, Business Community Synergies, and the Alcoa Foundation.

Delivering Positive Impact

“Our corporate clients are searching for qualified local NGOs to help deliver positive community impact,” said IFC Social Development Specialist Veronica Nyhan-Jones, explaining why IFC co-sponsored the workshop.

“When investing millions in local development they have trouble finding partners who understand both the company and the community perspective. This week was huge step forward in forging partnerships between civil society, extractive companies, and academia that will result in some very real development impact.”

The Community-Company Assessment taught the 30 NGO representatives to work more effectively with corporations by:

  • Helping them to understand the life cycle and needs of extractive industry operators.
  • Equipping them with a tool for listening to company and community needs.
  • Sharpening their analytical skills to develop effective community projects.
As a result, participating NGOs are now planning to launch long-term initiatives for working with mining companies back in their host countries. For some, the workshop represents a new beginning.

“We’ve been approached by many industries asking how we can work together and we’ve been very guarded,” said Jacob Manyindo of the Uganda Wildlife Society, one of the participants in the course. “This training has helped us to see how to work with them.”

Contributed by Alex Burger, Oil, Gas, Mining and Chemicals/Community Development Fund Practice Group

 

WORHSOP DOCUMENTS

Training Overview

Participant List

 

For questions, please contact James Van Alstine at J.Van-Alstine@lse.ac.uk, Rani Parker at rparker@BCSynergies.com, or Veronica Nyhan Jones at VNyhanJones@ifc.org.