PLAN 

The plan phase includes collecting and analysing information needed to:

• develop the SEP
• participate in Local Accountability Mechanisms and identify priority issues from the site’s perspective for discussion at Local Accountability Mechanisms.

Task 1 – Review context

Sites are required to undertake updates to their baseline data and conduct a comprehensive context review every five years as part of Review and planning (see Section 2). This provides:

• knowledge of the socio-economic, health, education and environmental conditions within a site’s Area of Influence
• an understanding of the internal context; specifically, planned changes and activities with the potential to impact on stakeholders
• an awareness of developments in the external context, with implications for a site’s relationships with stakeholders.

Box 3A.4 Additional update sources

The following sources may provide information relevant to stakeholder engagement that can be used to inform the context review:

• Analysis of input received via stakeholder input channels: Community Engagement Forum, incident and grievance records, community development requests, perception surveys
• Analysis and evaluation of internal reports and stakeholder data
• Media monitoring analysis

In relation to stakeholder engagement and planning, Social Performance teams should draw on the baseline information gathered through Review and planning (and other sources as relevant; for example, incidents and grievances) and consider the following:

• Are there new operational activities and/or changes that require specific engagement programmes (large-scale maintenance, land acquisition, exploration, lifecycle transition)?
• For existing operational activities, have social-impact mitigations been effective? Do corrective actions require new or improved engagement activities?
• Has there been a change in the significance of any impacts and risks, and does that affect stakeholder engagement?
• Has there been a change in the operational footprint/Area of Influence that requires engagement with new stakeholders?
• What significant socio-economic or political changes have occurred in the area (shifts in the economy, strikes against big business, upcoming elections, emergence of or increase in inter or intra community conflict, natural disasters, etc.)?
• Are all legal and permit requirements being met with regards to social performance? If not, what is the role of engagement in improving compliance?
• Are community requests increasing or decreasing? Is closer collaboration needed with the Human Resources, Security or SHE teams to better explain developments and processes to stakeholders?
• Are there emerging themes in grievances that indicate a need for a different engagement approach, or that require stronger collaboration with other teams?