Foundations for Peace in the Artisanal Gold Mining Sector in Burkina Faso

This project aims to enhance the ability of men and women in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector in Burkina Faso to integrate into the legal gold trade thereby better contributing to the stability and security of their communities. This project increases the financial autonomy and economic resilience of women and men in artisanal mining communities. It reduces their vulnerability to extortion by those who provide exploitative loans or investments in exchange for gold sales with conditions that are typically wildly unfavourable to miners. The project supports capacity building for authorities the private sector and civil society linked to proven techniques to incentivize legal trade while improving their enforcement strategies to hinder and marginalize the worst offenders of illicit trade. Project activities include: (1) creating savings and loans associations; (2) capacity-building on formalized savings and loans system; (3) developing action plans with authorities and the private sector to incentivize legal and legitimate artisanal gold trading practices; and (4) conducting assessments and building capacity of authorities the private sector and civil society to counter gold-related crimes with due consideration of gender implications.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion in participating artisanal gold producing communities; (2) enhanced conditions incentivizing responsible artisanal gold mining trade carried out by women and men; and (3) improved enforcement strategies to marginalize worst offenders amongst informal/illicit artisanal gold traders and lenders.