Technology Cooperation and Capacity Building - CommDev

TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING… Case Study ThreeCanadian Occidental in Yemen Republic‘We appreciate Canadian Oxy’s help in supplying our peoplewith the most basic requirement of water. We hope to repayCanadian Oxy’s investment in about two years. We will alsohelp other communities by supplying them with water at lesscost than they are now paying.’Saeed Ba-abad, Sheik of Ba-abad Tribesupport to local education is one in which waste constructionmaterials such as packing crates are converted to school desksand donated to local schools, most of which are crowded andlack furniture of any kind. Other materials such as cement,paint and scrap lumber have been donated to regionalschools, with the recipients contributing their own labour tomake the necessary repairs.CanadianOxy is also seeking partnerships with foreign aidorganizations as a means of stretching its funds further. Anexample is a cooperative programme with UNICEF in whichthe CanadianOxy donation is combined with others to fund aproject that combines plastic recycling with revegetationprogrammes. Waste plastic is collected by school children tomake containers for tree seedlings that the children nurtureuntil they are big enough to be planted out. In another case,CanadianOxy is making Canadian aid agencies aware ofYemen’s desire to expand its marine fisheries and, hopefully,reach agreement on provision of excess Canadian fisheriescapacity to this country.Bin Yumain District Mamour, Selamin Farj Al-Ali, presenting acommemorative plaque to CanadianOxy representative Garry Mann, inappreciation of assistance with school refurbishment.Sustaining the partnership through trainingThe CanadianOxy/Yemen project utilizes the latest processtechnology and controls and, as such, requires a skilledworkforce to ensure safe and efficient operations. FindingYemenis with the right skills or the ability to acquire theseskills has been a challenge. Raw recruits who have basiceducational qualifications are brought into the trainingprogramme where the initial focus is on improving theirEnglish. Basic petroleum-related science skills are workedon, and then more operation-specific training is undertaken,including on-the-job training, over the course of two to fouryears (see box).A portion of the curriculum is directed toward instillingbasic environmental, health and safety awareness, before thegraduates become fully qualified. Contractors are alsoencouraged to invest in training their Yemeni employees toassume greater responsibility. The marine servicecontractor, for example, has successfully trained its shipSchool classes being held outdoors in the village of Ressib. CanadianOxyprovided financial and material aid to this community in the building of anelementary school, presently under construction.‘Helping with schools is the most important way we canprovide for the future of our children so they will be betterprepared to help themselves. We hope that with better educationour people will be equipped to obtain more work withCanadianOxy in the future.’Selamin Farj Al-Ali, Mamour of the Bin Yumain District (1993–94)26