Gender Equality in Artisanal Mining

The project aims to support women working in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector to tackle the barriers they face with respect to achieving full gender equality in the ASM sector. The project works in the Democratic Republic of Congo Uganda and Zimbabwe and aims to provide women with the tools to gain economic security independence and voice coupled with meaningful space in decision-making structures that have a direct impact on their livelihoods (e.g. mining cooperatives). The project also aims to ensure that the ASM physical environment is better protected to ensure that mining is carried out in ways that do not have a negative impact on women and their communities and empower women to articulate and defend their concerns including health and safety concerns that are often overlooked or disregarded as of lesser importance. Project activities include: (1) providing technical assistance to legislators policy and other decision-makers on how to apply gender assessment tools to new and existing laws regulations policies and initiatives; (2) raising awareness for relevant stakeholders on how to combat harmful social stigma and cultural taboos that remain as an obstacle to women’s full economic participation in the mineral supply chain; and (3) providing technical assistance to women of ASM communities to develop relevant skills (financial literacy management and business) to more actively defend their interests and participate in mining cooperatives. The project aims to directly benefit an estimated 1 000 women and men working at project artisanal mine sites in the three targeted countries.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved laws regulations policies and initiatives created and/or adapted and implemented by governments in DRC Uganda and Zimbabwe that are enhancing women’s security and gender equality in the mining sector; (2) improved economic benefits for women derived from mineral supply chains in DRC Uganda and Zimbabwe; and (3) improved environmental conditions of ASM mining communities in DRC Uganda and Zimbabwe prioritizing conditions that affect women most negatively.