We integrate sustainable livelihoods into our strategic framework through our Community Development Programme (CDP). The aim is to support vulnerable and low-income households in improving their sources of income. These households usually have large families and poor access to basic social services such as health, water and education.

Through the CDP, individual households can organise into small associations setting up farming co-operatives producing food crops or raising livestock (such as poultry and pigs) as well as trade businesses (such as welding, carpentry, cutting and sewing, hairdressing, restaurants and small businesses).

The programme provides a range of training opportunities to enable these associations to improve their skills and become self-sustaining.

As a prominent business in the DRC’s mining industry, KCC seeks to support enterprises owned by DRC citizens in developing and growing their businesses.

We consider our suppliers to be vital stakeholders in our business and strive to develop close working relationships with them to facilitate seamless value delivery of our goods and services as well as support them in growing their own business and contributing to growing the local economy.

The Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) is responsible for managing procurement from local DRC suppliers at KCC. All goods and services tenders are examined for their suitability to advance the development of local Congolese-owned businesses in line with the KCC Local Procurement and EDP policy.

This policy encourages procurement from enterprises with minimum Congolese ownership of 51% and annual turnover up to US$5 million. 

We invest in improving education in the communities surrounding our operations by:

• building or financially supporting the construction of schools and academic institutions, and renovating others
• donating teaching materials and equipment 
• supporting teacher development programmes

We support vocational training for community members through courses that include boiler making, machine driving, auto mechanics, air conditioning and tailoring.

KCC supports summer camp activities for children, by providing learning materials and toys, daily meals, as well as school kits to facilitate the start of the school year. Thanks to this initiative, thousands of children have been given a safe place to learn and grow.

Safety

In line with our Values, our priority in the workplace is to protect the health and wellbeing of all our people. 

We are committed to operating safely and believe all fatalities, occupational diseases and injuries at work are preventable.

The KCC Health and Safety programme focuses on identifying and managing hazards in the workplace and is based on the Glencore SafeWork programme which aims to provide everyone with the knowledge and tools to perform every task safely; the key message is that every individual has the authority to stop unsafe work.

Consequently, at KCC we believe that every employee or contractor has the time to do every job safely, and they are empowered to stop any work they deem unsafe.

Health

We collaborate with local health stakeholders to assess the health conditions of an area and implement strategies to address the major health risks and concerns faced by the community. We are active in the construction of new – and rehabilitation of existing – health facilities, training of local medical staff, health awareness initiatives in communities, periodic medicine donations and assistance with vaccination campaigns in urban and rural areas.
We also have a medical facility, Watu Wetu, which provides healthcare services to our employees and their dependents.  

Malaria Control

Every year KCC undertakes a comprehensive programme to protect our host communities from malaria. This includes:

• insecticide spray campaigns across our host communities
• distribution of insecticide-treated nets
• awareness campaigns on preventative measures and early diagnosis of infections 

KCC’s goal is to reduce the impact of malaria on our communities.

National Programme against HIV

We contribute material and technical support to the National Programme against HIV (PNMLS). We have supported the construction of new PNMLS facilities, training of medical staff and organisation of HIV awareness campaigns.

KCC’s Community Development Programmes (CDPs) are integral to our community and engagement strategies to foster resilient socio-economic communities. 

We have respectful relationships with our neighbouring communities. We communicate openly with local stakeholders to understand and address their concerns and needs, and actively contribute to activities and programmes designed to improve the quality of life and sustainability of the livelihoods within the communities that live around our operations.

Our company has contributed to the DRC economy since the beginning of its operations by investing and supporting the National Development Strategy with a focus on healthcare, sustainable livelihoods, education and infrastructure.

KCC has committed to investing USD$ 40 million over the next five years in line with our ‘Cahier de Charges’, covering infrastructure, education, electrification, agriculture, and health.

Human Rights

We recognise that we have the potential to impact human rights directly through our operations, and indirectly through our relationships with joint ventures, contractors and suppliers. We are committed to respecting human rights and actively support our workforce, business partners and suppliers to understand and meet this commitment.

We have undertaken a third-party human rights due diligence (HRDD) process. The process responds to Glencore’s Human Rights Standard and supports us in identifying the salient human rights issues affecting our operations, building internal awareness of human rights opportunities and challenges, and demonstrates to our stakeholders our commitment to human rights.

Furthermore, we are committed to applying the United Nations Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights in the DRC where public and private security forces are engaged.

KCC has appropriate complaints and grievance processes in place that are legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, transparent, and rights-compatible, in line with the United Nations’ Guiding Principles (UNGP) effectiveness criteria. These processes encourage people to raise concerns with us without fear of recrimination. We commit to investigating all concerns in a manner that respects the rights of the complainant.

KCC does not buy, source, or process any ASM or third party feed. We support efforts to establish greater transparency in the value chain. For cobalt, KCC has been assured under the Responsible Minerals Initiative’s (RMI) Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) since 2021.

KCC adheres to Glencore’s responsible sourcing practices aimed at creating long-term value and opportunities for our stakeholders.  

We believe that legal ASM can play an important and sustainable role in the DRC economy when carried out responsibly and transparently. The way in which it is currently carried out often presents significant challenges for our operations.
As part of our efforts to support legitimate ASM to be as responsible as possible, we: 

• are a founding member of the Fair Cobalt Alliance (FCA)
• continuously engage local communities, the DRC Government, the OECD, civil society and other key stakeholders, including our customers on the issue
• have a zero tolerance approach for any form of child, forced, or compulsory labour   we work to tackle the socio-economic root causes that contribute to the high prevalence of child labour, specifically focusing on improving access to school
• run initiatives to support local families, fight the root causes of child labour and help to diversify the local economy to offer alternatives to ASM such as summer camps