In any oil and gas development and utilization activities, the local government and community play critical roles in making these activities possible. Without local support, these activities could not proceed, and if they do proceed, significant delays and disruption could result to huge expenditure that could derail and even frustrate success of the project. It is the local community that effectively grants any outside Oil and Gas Company the license to operate because this community had stakes both in the positive and negative outcomes of this project. Thus, the company must commit in providing economic and social development through local content and capacity building. This effort may include providing energy, education, job creation, and even technology …show more content…
These also improve the opportunities of local communities to receive benefits from the presence of the oil and gas company. What is more important, these programs must yield long-term benefits for the community, even if designed to be implemented through the participation of the local community.
That is exactly the reason why programs like days involve the cooperation and participation of the government and civil society through the forging of a strategic partnership for local benefits. Multi-stakeholder initiatives, especially when voluntary, help companies to collaboratively address certain traditional barriers to social development, such as weak governance, local and overall government corruption, and even conflicts in certain community-sensitive issues (e.g. environment protection). Companies have many options in implementing these initiatives. They can use different models of implementation, such as a specialized community development within the company, establish a foundation (company-run or independently), or contract national NGOs, institutions or consultants to move the initiatives as