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Social Investment

The success of projects in the Caspian region depends, in part, on the operators’ ability to create tangible benefits from these projects for the people of the region. To achieve this, bp and its co-venturers continue to implement major social investment projects, which include educational programmes, building skills and capabilities in local communities, improving access to social infrastructure in communities, supporting local enterprises through provision of access to finance and training, support for cultural legacy and sport, as well as technical assistance to public institutions.

In 2022, bp and its co-venturers in the bp-operated joint ventures spent more than $3.4 million in Azerbaijan on social investment projects. During the year, this included 13 educational projects, five programmes in support of local capacity-building and enterprise development and two environmental initiatives.

bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that it operates) will continue their social investment initiatives in support of local capacity-building and enterprise development throughout Azerbaijan to assist the country in strengthening its economy.

Some examples of such projects in Azerbaijan are:

• The Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) initiated by bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that it operates) which was completed in 2022. This was a multi-million-dollar initiative in support of local business development. The programme was part of the efforts to increase the local content of contracts in Azerbaijan and contribute to the healthy and transparent development of the local economy. During 2022, the programme provided capacity development support to local organizations. This included vocational education capability development of the training centres and capacity development of three local organizations. In addition, 20 individual entrepreneurs (The Patriotic War veterans) completed their training within the vocational skills development programme implemented in cooperation with the ‘Kulane’ vocational education and training centre.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) has been supporting for five years a large group of 11th grade students in their efforts to prepare for higher education. The participants in the project called ‘Build your Future’ are selected from disadvantaged families. The project activities include two components – academic knowledge and social integration. In total, some 409 young people out of 482 participants in the programme over the past six years (85%) have been successful meeting the requirements of the higher school entrance exams and becoming students. Out of 93 participants of the Phase 6 of the project, 76 beneficiaries were admitted to higher education institutions and eight to local colleges. Based on the results and overall success of this initiative, bp and its co-venturers have decided to continue the project into the 2022-2023 academic year.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a project aimed at transferring the international business education expertise to Azerbaijan through bringing the internationally recognized Adaptive Strategic Execution Programme to the country. The programme was based at Baku’s ADA University. The training programme of the project was certified by the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University (USA) and based on a world-class business education curriculum developed by Duke Corporate Education, a leader in providing executive education globally, who worked in partnership with Korn Ferry - a leading HR consulting organization specializing in leadership development based in the US. The project delivered six streams with a total of 123 executives participating from the public and private sectors. bp and its co-venturers partially funded the training of 108 participants.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) is supporting a three-year educational project to strengthen data analytics research and training capacity in Azerbaijan. This is achieved through establishing a competitive and sustainable Master of Science in Computer Science and Master of Science in Data Analytics (MSCS/DA) dual degree programme, as well as further developing the Centre for Data Analytics Research at ADA University. A total of 20 students from the first cohort successfully graduated from the programme having completed their two-year master studies, 19 students from the second cohort attended their fall semester at the George Washington University in Washington DC and 20 students were selected to participate in the third cohort. The selected 20 students attended their first semester studies at ADA University.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that it operates) successfully completed a social investment initiative focusing on remote learning in career planning, financial literacy and entrepreneurship for the benefit of schoolchildren aged between 13 and 17. Some 10 video lessons on entrepreneurship, nine video lessons on financial literacy and two video lessons on career planning were developed and made accessible to public via online and public TV channels as part of the project. The project also supported the teaching of entrepreneurship and financial literacy as extracurricular classes in 30 schools in Baku, Absheron, Sumgait, Ganja, Mingachevir, Masally, Gakh, Zagatala and Gabala. A total of 64 schoolteachers received training on entrepreneurship and financial literacy, and relevant teaching and learning materials were developed for the benefit of over 3,000 students.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed the ABB Tech Academy initiative. The project trained and developed a total of 208 people from all sectors of the economy enhancing their IT skills, overall technological knowledge and capabilities and enabling them to keep up with the fast-changing technology world. Of the 208 participants, the training of 150 was funded jointly by bp and its co-venturers and ABB. Over the duration of the project, a total of nine streams were offered to the participants who represented more than 50 local and international organizations.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) is supporting a social investment project aiming to improve English language skills of English teachers and students of the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU). A total of 74 teachers completed the language training in 2021, after which the programme continued with mentoring sessions. The project will also provide additional online sessions to ASOIU teachers based on their needs.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a social investment project aiming to improve English language proficiency and teaching skills of 120 English teachers in Ganja city. This was achieved by providing extensive training based on the most modern and communicative forms of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Accordingly, the curriculum of the programme consisted of general English - communicating in spoken and written English and methodology training - covering all aspects of teaching methodology.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a social project to support youth entrepreneurship in rural areas. This was achieved through application of a youth business incubation model for 30 young people selected from the Samukh, Goranboy and Shamkir districts. As part of the project, the beneficiaries received training and equipment to help them start their own businesses.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a project aimed to empower local autism specialists by providing them access to international best practices. The project included support for the development of 60 local specialists using internationally approved training programmes, translation of internationally available learning and teaching materials, as well as public outreach activities. In addition, the project supported a group of autistic persons with preparation of individual self-development and business plans to help enhance their employment opportunities. As part of the project a learning material on dealing with autism was translated, awareness raising photo session, autism cycling tour and autism fashion night events were conducted. As part of the programme, 10 people with autism completed an internship enhancing their employment opportunities.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a project which helped enhance financial acumen of selected workforce in Baku and Ganja. A total of 70 people - 32 from Baku and 38 from Ganja - received training in finance, accounting and taxation followed by an internship opportunity to gain practical experience. All participants received certificates upon completion of the programme. In addition, a career fair was organized within the project with the engagement of employers from public and private enterprises.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) is supporting a two-year environmental project aiming to offset carbon emissions through preventing soil erosion and desertification. As part of the project, 250,000 new trees will be planted, and maintenance support will be provided to look after 110,000 already planted trees in the Shamkir and Samukh districts. In addition, an innovative tree planting system with water-preserving equipment and layer planting technique will be created on one hectare of selected territory in the Gobustan district. To date, the project has completed the planting of 50,000 trees in Samukh, 28,000 in Shamkir and 800 trees in Gobustan. Land preparation for the planting of 172,000 trees in Shamkir and 200 trees in Gobustan is currently ongoing.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a project supporting war affected families in the Tovuz and Agstafa districts by providing them with social and psychological rehabilitation and legal services, as well as creating an opportunity to participate in two networking camps. Over 400 beneficiaries received legal and psychological support as part of the project. 
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) is supporting a project aimed at developing an inclusive education model in physical education and its application by the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Education and Sport for the benefit of students with special needs.  As part of the project, a group of international experts assessed the level of inclusivity in physical education and developed their recommendations with the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Education and Sport.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) launched a project to support the demographic forecasting and planning initiatives of the government. The project includes the provision of training for employees of the public sector, and production of population forecasts covering the country`s economic regions and administrative districts.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) launched a project aimed at enhancing the local Mediation Council`s capability to effectively process the disputes raised by individuals and legal entities on commercial, labor and family matters. This will be achieved through the development of a web-based solution to help the Mediation Council process a growing number of disputes online.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) completed a project aimed at developing a textbook on renewable energy for students and the teaching staff of Baku Higher Oil School. In addition to the new 220-page textbook “An Introduction to Renewable Energy Sources”, the project scope included the development of a tailored for purpose new learning course for undergraduate students.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) completed a project aiming to support 40 beneficiaries from low-income families to achieve formalization of their knowledge and skills. This was achieved through provision of training sessions to refresh the participants’ theoretical and practical knowledge in the selected areas of craftsmanship such as hairdressing, sewing, confectionery and welding. A total of 40 participants attended the training and 38 out of them successfully passed examination at the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (TKTA) and received certificates related to their respective field of qualification.
• bp (on behalf of its co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed two phases of a project, which enabled 44 rural schools located in remote communities to access affordable and environmentally friendly heating systems. As part of these projects, the schools comprised of 815 classes were equipped with the pellet-based heating system.
• bp (on behalf of the co-venturers in the joint ventures that bp operates in Azerbaijan) successfully completed a project to support inclusive education in four schools (two in Baku and two in Sumgait). Project contributed to expansion of inclusive education by establishing resource rooms in schools as well as providing those rooms with necessary inventory, furniture, assistive technologies and training teachers on using those technologies to improve the learning process. The project also supported behavioral change in school community by raising people awareness on inclusive education. The project was implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Education which will advocate for policy and strategic development of inclusive education implementation within the mainstream of Azerbaijan education system.
  

In addition, in 2022, bp alone spent around $2 million on various social and sponsorship projects in Azerbaijan. During the year, these projects included 12 educational initiatives, one programme in support of local capacity-building and enterprise development, three environmental initiatives and six projects aimed at promoting the country’s cultural heritage and sport. Also, during the year, bp sponsored 14 conferences, exhibitions, forums and symposiums on various themes.

Some examples of these include:

• translation from English into Azerbaijani and publication of 14 academic textbooks on startup and innovation, corporate finance, marketing, social research, international relations, economic policy, managerial economics, statistics for business and economics, econometrics, psychology and information security.  This project aims to enhance the quality of teaching in 16 disciplines at over 15 local universities. 
• strengthening the nanoelectromechanical systems scientific research capacity of the Azerbaijan State University of Economics by supporting the university`s research undertakings and cooperation with international universities. 
• a project aimed at enhancing the development of the country’s startup sector and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan and with the Hungarian government agency responsible for export promotion (HEPA). The project trained up to 29 local startups to enter the European market providing them with the frameworks to scale up to European countries with the focus on Hungary, Germany and the UK.
• development of a book that represents the publication of research material about the beautiful art of patchwork, translated from various languages into Azerbaijani and English, as well as support to the exhibition dedicated to the art of patchwork.
• development of a manual to help school psychologists do their job more effectively. The project was implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. It equipped school psychologists with the necessary theory and practice of dealing with the most common and challenging psychological problems at schools including stress, mental and moral trauma cases, as well as post pandemic mental health issues and syndromes.
  
  
• establishment of the Olive Grove comprised of around 1,300 trees in the area near the Shongar waste management site to contribute to the prevention of soil erosion, to reduction of the dusting in the air and to enhancement of environmental protection of the area.
• development of the irrigation system to support the planting of over 60,000 trees near the Khojahasan-Lokbatan highway.
• installation of a greenhouse to support the Jeyranbatan tree nursery capacity to support the country-wide tree planting campaign through provision of 1 million tree seedlings annually. 
• a project based on the DanceAbility method training programme for the specialists of the rehabilitation centres of Yevlakh, Baku and Shirvan. The project aimed to provide the inclusiveness in treatment and rehabilitation of people with disabilities in Azerbaijan and offer universal communication techniques through common language exercise – Danceability method. A total of 28 (14 online and 14 offline) training sessions on Danceability were provided to 52 workers of rehabilitation centres from Baku, Mardakan, Yevlakh and Shirvan.
• establishment of a digital library for Baku State University to benefit 15,000 students and members of the teaching staff.
• support for enhancing project management capabilities at eight universities through training the administrative staff, students and teachers and developing a curriculum and teaching materials.
• sponsorship of the third International Autism ABA Azerbaijan Conference. In 2022, the conference brought together international experts who discussed the modern methods of developing a variety of skills in people with autism spectrum disorder.
• support for the development of Azerbaijan’s national sport by extending bp’s decade-long partnership with Azerbaijan’s National Olympic and Paralympic Committees until the end of 2024. 
• sponsorship of the Azerbaijan Business Case Competition 2022 which aims to develop future business leaders for the country by raising young people’s awareness about the existing business potential.
• involvement in the first ‘TEKNOFEST Azerbaijan’ Aerospace and Technology Festival held in Baku. During the festival, a group of bp employees delivered presentations on various technology topics.
• sponsorship of and participation in the 27th Caspian Oil and Gas exhibition, now known as Baku Energy Week.
• support to the 'Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection and Sustainability' programme arranged by the Institute for Development and Diplomacy (ADA University) in collaboration with the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, Naval Postgraduate School’s Energy Academic Group and SOCAR. The initiative aimed to enhance the country’s energy security efforts and identify improvement opportunities. A group of experts from bp’s Baku office participated in the programme.
• sponsorship of the 2022 Enactus Azerbaijan National Competition, which aimed to promote entrepreneurship by developing business skills in students. The winning team represented Azerbaijan at the 2022 Enactus World Championship.
• sponsorship of the ‘Baku Investment Day (Baku ID)' organized by the ‘SABAH.lab’ startup acceleration centre.
• sponsorship of the 16th Baku Annual Summer Energy School (BSES) organized by the Institute for Development and Diplomacy (IDD) at ADA University.  BSES is a two-week certificate programme focusing on energy and environmental issues. As in the previous years, a group of senior bp representatives delivered sessions during the programme. 
• support to the Regional Energy Security Symposium 2022 organized by the Institute for Development and Diplomacy (IDD) at ADA University. The event aimed at strengthening regional energy security and resiliency through regional collaboration.
• sponsorship of a new documentary ‘Treasures of the world – Azerbaijan’ in partnership with Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The film was made by Sandstone Global Productions in cooperation with the Baku Media Centre. The documentary features the fascinating historical and cultural treasures of Baku, Shusha, Gobustan and Sheki which are known as Azerbaijan’s ancient cultural centres.
• sponsorship of the "Green economy, green business, green management and leadership: the road to green economy, new challenges, opportunities and perspectives" international conference. The conference brought together the organizations which promote the preservation of ecological balance in Azerbaijan and in the world.
• support to the International Charity Bazaar dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Azerbaijan-UN partnership, the third anniversary of Azerbaijan’s chairmanship to the Non-Aligned Movement and the UN Day.
• sponsorship of the IBSA Judo World Championship Baku 2022 competition as part of the partnership with the National Paralympic Committee. The event brought together about 280 athletes and representatives from 42 countries.
• sponsorship of the 3rd Eurasian Energy and Sustainability Conference. The event was organized by the Azerbaijan Technical University and brought together the leading industry practitioners and provides a platform for discussing actual Eurasian energy issues and challenges of the energy transition period.
• support to a three-day engineering bootcamp where bp employees shared their knowledge and experience in the oil and gas industry with Azerbaijani students. A group of bp employees provided training sessions on petroleum engineering , safety, low carbon and agility for 40 students from 5 local universities, focusing on the practical application of theoretical knowledge in these areas. The students received bp internal certificates upon the completion of the bootcamp.
• support to the "International STEAM Azerbaijan Festival 2022" organized by the Ministry of Science and Education of Azerbaijan. The festival aimed to promote STEAM-based education, nurture 21st century skills among students, as well as to research international experience in innovation and digitalization.
• Sponsorship of two books dedicated to the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi – ‘The Forgotten Publications’ and ‘The Magic of the Pen’. The project is bp’s contribution to the research and promotion of Nizami’s invaluable and enormous legacy. Both publications are bp’s gift to the ‘Year of Nizami Ganjavi’ announced by President Ilham Aliyev on the occasion of the great poet’s 880th birthday anniversary.
• establishment of digital library for the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University to benefit some 11,000 students and the teaching staff.
• establishment of the electronics and electrical engineering, as well as energy efficiency and renewable energy laboratories for the University of Architecture and Construction aiming to enhance research and teaching capability of the university.
• establishment of a printing and publishing centre for the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University to satisfy the publishing needs of over 10,000 students and 800 teaching staff members.

Further information:

Tamam Bayatly at bp’s press office in Baku. 

Telephone: (+994 12) 525 58 95