It’s a landmark achievement, in part due to the committee’s composition, including five female members. This represents the first time women have played decision-making roles in community affairs. The committee’s creation came about as part of a CSC process aiming to ensure long-lasting, positive impact from the local benefits shared.

In Côte d’Ivoire, a local governing committee was created as part of a CSC process aiming to ensure long-lasting, positive impact of the substantial endowment provided to the community as part of IFC client Azito Energie’s compensation payment. It’s a landmark achievement, in part due to the committee’s composition, including five female members—representing the first time women have played decision-making roles in community affairs.

The participatory CSC process brought to the table diverse stakeholders, resulting in the development of an inclusive, gender-responsive three-year community investment plan overseen by the governance committee. A new CSC process is ramping up now, to assess progress to date and identify necessary adjustments to keep plans on track. Since the initial launch of the community scorecard methodology, the engagement has been repeated two times. The CSC process helped the company and local stakeholders agree on a variety of important actions. Among them:

• Ensuring that job announcements encourage women applicants by clearly stating «Women are encouraged to apply».
• Identifying and prioritizing community projects, including local infrastructure, quality of life, and women’s literacy.
• Strengthening monitoring of training activities and community projects. • Networking and experience-sharing with other communities that have built successful governance committees.