Social Responsibility

Table of Contents 

2.0 Due Diligence - Introduction 
2.1 Project Due Diligence and Risk Management
2.2 What Is the Relationship between Due Diligence and Impact Assessment? 
2.3 What Is Risk Management?
2.4 The Basics of Risk and Risk Assessment 
2.5 Risk Identification 
2.6 Risk Estimation
2.7 Risk Evaluation
2.8 Risk Control 
2.9 Project Plan
2.10 Monitoring and Review

Introduction

Successful exploration creates new wealth, returns value to investors, minimizes negative impacts to people and the environment and makes a positive contribution to local communities and society at large. The first key step to achieving these goals is project due diligence. Before initiating any new exploration project and before progressing to the next stage of exploration on an existing project, explorers should conduct project due diligence. Project due diligence is a risk management process designed to enable you to decide if you should proceed with a project and, if so, how to do so in a way that enables you to manage the social, economic and environmental risks. Effective project due diligence will save you time, money and many problems - possibly even save the project itself. It will enable you to identify, manage and control your risks to prevent harm, make better financial and operational decisions and meet your commitments to your stakeholders.

Table of Contents

4.0 Community Development 
4.1 Why Is Community Development Important for Explorers? 
4.2 Using this Guidance
4.3 What Are the Community Development Challenges for Explorers? 
4.4 Summary of Recommended Practices 
4.5 What is Wealth Generation?
4.6 Recommended Practices 
4.7 Charitable Giving and Social Investment 
4.8 The Benefits of Partnerships 
4.8.1 Recommended Practices 
4.9 Corporate Leadership
4.10 What Are Governance Gaps?
   4.10.1 Recommended Practices
4.11 Frameworks and Planning Tools to Implement Guidance on Community Development and Well-Being 
   4.11.1 Partnership Assessment Tool 
   4.11.2 Exploration Agreements
   4.11.3 Social Impact Assessment
   4.11.4 Sustainable Livelihoods Framework
   4.11.5 A Human Rights Based Approach to Development

Introduction

Community development involves different organizations and individuals in a community working collaboratively to improve the well-being of the community. The goals of community development include:

• improving the health and prosperity of the community as a whole;
• creating equitable conditions and outcomes for health and well-being;
• fostering sustainable community initiatives;
• fostering sustainable self-sufficiency for the people involved;
• increasing personal worth, dignity, and value; and
• building awareness of and resolving issues in the community.

The U.N. Millennium Declaration (2000) reflects universal recognition that all organizations - public and private have a role to play in contributing to the conditions that will enable all human beings to truly realize their right to an adequate standard of living and well-being. The Millennium Declaration was ratified by 189 heads of state in September 2000, and is considered one of the most significant United Nations documents of recent time. It provides a common vision for how to tackle the world's most important development challenges. The Declaration has resulted in eight focus areas for development, called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These are:

• eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
• achieve universal primary education;
• promote gender equality and women empowerment;
• reduce child mortality;
• improve maternal health;
• combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;
• ensure environmental sustainability; and
• develop a global partnership for development.

Table of Contents

5.0 Ethical Conduct - Introduction
5.1 What Are Corruption and Bribery? 
5.2 Why Is Countering Bribery and Corruption Important to Explorers? 
5.3 Recommended Practices 
5.4 What Is Conflict of Interest? 
5.5 Why Is Managing Conflict of Interest Important?
5.6 Recommended Practices
5.7 Responsible Political Engagement 
5.8 Recommended Practices

Introduction

Many countries rich in mineral resources are mired in poverty and weak governance. As a result of weak governance, struggles for control of resources often lead to conflict, human rights violations and sometimes civil war. Public revenues earned from resources are often squandered through corruption. 

The relationship in many countries between natural resources, conflict and corruption has led to increasing focus on the extractive sector and its potential role in countering corruption. The mining sector is generally considered to be one of the business sectors particularly susceptible to corruption. The high commercial value of natural resources makes them a target for acts of corruption, misappropriation, or plundering. The management of mineral rights is characterized by complicated regulations and high levels of government control that provide numerous opportunities for manipulation and corrupt practices.

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6.0 What Am I Responsible For? 
6.1 How Do I Determine What I Am Responsible For?
6.2 How Do I Prevent Harm?
   6.2.1 Understanding and Assessing the Risk
   6.2.2 Taking Reasonable Steps to Prevent the Harm 
   6.2.3 Recommended Practices
6.3 How Do I Encourage Better Performance and Promote Good? 
   6.3.1 Recommended Practices
6.4 What Is My Responsibility for Business Relationships? 
   6.4.1 Recommended Practices
6.5 What Should I Disclose? 
   6.5.1 Recommended Practices

Introduction

Most explorers can agree that the principles contained in DRE apply to them, but many stumble over how to put these into practice, not because they are not well intentioned and do not want to take action, but because they often do not know or recognize where their responsibility to act begins and ends. 

There is no clear map delineating the boundaries of responsibility; those boundaries very much depend on the facts and circumstances of each individual situation. The fact that the boundaries of responsibility are situation dependent is complicated by the subject matter of social responsibility: ethical conduct, human rights, environmental integrity, community well-being, etc. These subjects are nuanced and responsibility is based on a combination of legal, ethical and social expectations. 

In some jurisdictions, the legal standards related to these issues may not be in place, well-defined, or adequate to prevent harm to people or the environment. Enforcement may be weak and the rule of law fragile. Moreover, for any one subject or situation, explorers will face different expectations from different stakeholders and sometimes these expectations will compete or conflict with each other.

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7.0 Human Rights - Introduction
7.1 Summary of Recommended Practices
7.2 What Are Human Rights? 
7.3 What Are Universal Human Rights? 
7.4 International Human Rights Instruments
7.5 What Is the Scope of Responsibility for Human Rights?
7.6 The Duty To Respect Human Rights 
7.7 Domestic Laws and International Human Rights Standards
7.8 What is Complicity? 
   7.8.1 To Enable, Facilitate or Exacerbate Human Rights Abuses
   7.8.2 Proximity
   7.8.3 Knowledge and Awareness 
   7.8.4 Benefit
7.9 Avoiding Complicity
7.10 Conditions of Work and Employment 
   7.10.1 Recommended Practices 
7.11 Discrimination in Employment 
   7.11.1 Recommended Practices 
7.12 Freedom of Association 
   7.12.1 Recommended Practices
7.13 Child Labour
   7.13.1 Recommended Practices 
7.14 Forced Labour 
   7.14.1 Recommended Practices 
7.15 Security and Human Rights
   7.15.1 Recommended Practices

Introduction

The following sections introduce human rights, set out why human rights are relevant to explorers and describe what explorers can do to respect and promote human rights. The human rights guidance in this section should be read in conjunction with the guidance provided on governance and management processes; the two sets of guidance work together.

The guidance for the Human Rights section provides background into the issues and the specific actions that explorers should take to address those issues, in order to respect human rights. The guidance on management process provides direction on how explorers can develop the organizational capacity to address specific actions. 

The table below summarizes the recommended practices that explorers should implement to respect and promote human rights. In the right hand column below, you will find links to the related management process guidance. In addition, as you read through each of the subject areas under Human Rights, you will also find links to additional information sources that explorers can use to help develop and implement these practices.