Communities

With the experience of operating in different parts of the Americas, the Group has adopted a culture of collaborating with the local communities surrounding our projects and operations. This desire to promote the development of the communities, respect for their human rights and their environment form the core of our corporate strategy that we describe as “Operating Responsibly”.

 

 

 

 

 

To do this, our primary objective is to maintain a constructive relationship with communities and promote development, guided by the following principles:

1. Foster mutual respect and co-existence with local communities
2. Achieve mutually beneficial agreements
3. Improve the quality of life of community residents
4. Improve the health, nutrition and education of local community members 
5. Encourage good relationships and co-ordination with stakeholders to promote sustainable development.
    

Recent Developments

During 2017 we focused on a number of high impact initiatives further details of which are provided below.

Education
Elementary education
Contributing to the education of community members living close to our operations has been an established part of our social support. Each year we evaluate programmes and direct our efforts to those where we maximise value for students, teachers and parents.

In 2017, we decided to support extra-curricular activities which combined the teaching of academic subjects with play. This was complemented by the delivery of lunch kits that will not only improve the provision of school lunches but will also facilitate concentration during school hours and also teach children the importance of a well-balanced, nutritious diet.  This year almost 300 students and over 60 teachers were supported across 11 schools.

Secondary education
Hochschild has continued to support programmes that promote personal development and basic economic/business awareness to equip those in secondary education for their early adult years. Over the course of 2017, we have collaborated with over 500 secondary students and almost 100 teachers across seven educational establishments.

Digital centres
After the success of the Group’s flagship Chalhuanca Project, Hochschild has worked with TECSUP, IDAT and CISCO, to establish digital centres to promote online literacy. A training programme is being implemented in 2018 to ensure that full advantage can be taken of the equipment provided.

Health
Medico de Cabecera (the Travelling Doctor programme)
This programme enables the Group to bring a mobile health service to those living in the most remote locations. Valued by the young and the old, the Travelling Doctor programme brings coverage that local state health services cannot provide. In 2017 a total of 8,000 medical attendances were facilitated.

Socio-economic development
Business networks
This successful programme has seen over 250 agricultural and livestock producers flourish in their trade. Having been established in 2013, with only 25 beneficiaries, there has been an impressive level of take-up of the support provided by the Group. The project was originally set up with community members living close to the Inmaculada mine and, today, they are  suppliers to the mine’s catering contractors.

Argentina
The Group has also promoted, in conjunction with its joint venture partner, a number of initiatives at its San Jose operation in Argentina. These have included:

• scholarship opportunities;
• the training of students from the town of Perito Moreno, located close to the mine, in the areas of drilling and explosives handling and who were subsequently employed by the Group; and
• supporting local cultural causes, including funding a local museum and its showcasing of the cave paintings from the Cueva de los Manos.