Why Chevron? In 2015, Chevron<\/strong> entered into a contract with the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise<\/strong> to explore for oil off the coast of the Rakhine state in western Burma. Rakhine is the homeland of more than one million Rohingya people.<\/p>\n The resolution we submitted calls on Chevron to evaluate a policy of not doing business with governments that are believed to be engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity. It specifically proposed that Chevron halt its relationship with the government of Burma until that country ends the state-sanctioned violence against its Rohingya minority. Essentially, it tells Chevron that investors are watching what they do in the Rakhine state and in other areas where human rights abuses are taking place.<\/p>\n Some corporate leaders may care about ethical issues related to their business and others may not; however, the leaders of all publicly traded companies have a legal responsibility to their shareholders to run the company well and do what\u2019s best for the business. Reputational risks from doing business with governments engaged in human rights abuses are a real consideration, and it\u2019s this concern that we appealed to in our proposed resolution.<\/p>\n The resolution will be put to a vote by stockholders at Chevron\u2019s annual meeting in May 2017. As the lead filer, Azzad will send a representative to read a statement to formally \u201cmove\u201d the resolution.<\/p>\n![\"Chevron's](\"https:\/\/intelliserver.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Burma-Chevron-oil.png\"){kind=icon}
During the fall filing season, Azzad partnered with a Catholic religious organization, the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk<\/strong>, to file the first shareholder resolution submitted to a U.S. corporation focused on the plight of the Rohingya people.<\/p>\n