Community development
We take the view that our presence in an area should benefit our affected communities and not just those people we employ. So we commit ourselves to making a positive contribution through the design and implementation of agreed programmes of assistance, designed within a framework of sustainable development.
We see these community assistance activities as the added benefits that communities might receive from hosting our businesses in their neighbourhoods.
How we contribute to sustainable communities
Our community assistance programmes are the result of on-going consultation with affected communities. Agreed activities are described in multi-year plans, setting out the rationale for the initiatives undertaken. These plans describe the desired end point of specific initiatives or the strategy for devolving responsibility for it to another party in the community.
Through this approach, we strive to create self-sufficiency in the activities we support, and to avoid dependency. We agree with communities on the indicators and measures to be used to monitor the effectiveness of the assistance provided.
The thousands of business enterprises and small scale community-based businesses, set up under our multi-year plans, provide opportunities for local people to learn new technical, administrative, retail or commercial management skills.
We consult closely with community leaders and institutions on how we can best provide individual development opportunities, which in some cases may include scholarships, internships or work placements.
Our community training efforts are helping local communities and indigenous people in Australia, Africa and Canada to secure employment opportunities within their local economies, as well as at our operations.
Our results
In 2007, Rio Tinto businesses supported more than 2,900 socioeconomic programmes covering a wide range of activities including health, education, business development, housing, environmental protection and agricultural development.
We spent an estimated US$107 million on community assistance programmes and payments into benefits receiving trusts set up in directly negotiated community impact benefit agreements. This does not include economic multiplier contributions, such as salaries and wages, local procurement, infrastructure, housing and utilities support.
The acquisition of Alcan brought together two similar approaches to facilitating sustainable communities, with complementary community support programmes not yet fully captured in this report.
In 2006, our businesses supported 855 socio-economic programmes covering a wide range of activities extending from health, education and business development to housing, the environment and agriculture.