The responsibilities of the community liaison officers are:
Initiate relations
Initiate, conduct, and maintain community relations where operations will be carried out.
Our ongoing search for proactive, transparent, continuous, and participatory dialogue
We involve the indigenous communities in the areas where we operate from the project's very early stages, keeping in mind the respect for human rights, especially for those most vulnerable groups of people:
Understanding and respecting the unique nature of indigenous peoples
We undertake to recognize and respect the internationally recognized rights of indigenous, tribal, aboriginal, and native peoples (Indigenous Peoples), in accordance with current laws and following the requirements of the International Labor Organization’s Convention (ILO) No. 169 |PDF| 493 KB, regardless of whether or not it is included in the legislation of the country in question.
Through baseline social studies that we carry out at our operations and with the participation of governments and local, regional, and national organizations that represent indigenous peoples, we identify those indigenous communities that are in different phases of contact with the majority culture and that may be affected by our operations.
Establishing dialogue and a close-knit relationship with indigenous communities
To maintain a relationship of trust and mutual respect with the communities close to our operations, based on transparency and shared value, we work on our dialogue:
The responsibilities of the community liaison officers are:
Initiate relations
Initiate, conduct, and maintain community relations where operations will be carried out.
Create conditions
Create the appropriate conditions and relations with communities by respecting each one's specific aspects.
Inform
Inform on the characteristics of the projects, potential impacts, and prevention and mitigation measures.
Align interests
Align the interests of the communities with social investment principles to create compatible projects.
The people who make up the community relations team are the visible face in front of the communities and create a friendly and bona fide environment. They are the link between the company and the communities to mediate in possible disagreements and conflict that may arise by seeking an understanding that is beneficial for both parties. At Repsol, we have a team of 70 community liaison officers in the different countries where we are present.
Apart from the community liaison officers, there are regional Committees that meet periodically to discuss specific social topics and share lessons learned in each of the operating areas, and additionally, we have a corporate area for Human Rights and Community Relations, within the Division of Sustainability, that receives feedback from the regional committees or countries and sets a regulating framework, tracks and controls regulations, and proposes action plans and training.
At the highest level, the Executive Committee approves all internal regulations regarding human rights and community relations and monitors relevant topics in this field.
We also work to improve human rights issues externally in industry work groups at various levels:
These work groups allow us to improve each day by sharing experiences, lessons learned, and good practices between different companies and expert entities on the matter.