Solidaridad, Dutch Foreign Ministry moves to empower women in mining

A five-year project aimed at empowering women in artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities is being implemented by Solidaridad, an international civil society organization, in partnership with the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

The Gold project, expected to end by 2020, will target 15 small scale mines and their corresponding communities in the Western, Ashanti and Eastern Regions.

Mr. Isaac Gyamfi, Regional Director-Solidaridad West Africa, at a ceremony to celebrate the  company’s first traceable gold mined from Ghana, said the objective is to pick up at least five percent of responsibly-produced gold from artisanal and small-scale miners -- which will improve the livelihoods of artisanal and small-scale miners and communities around them.

The organisation has been working with the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mines (ASM) and Medium Scale Mines (MSM) in order to produce gold sustainably through improved environmental, safety, social and business practices.

Solidaridad works to ensure that the mines operate within accepted global standards. They promote the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) standard used as a tool in the work with MSMs, and the Fairmined (FM) standard for gold is used for the ASM sector.

Both are international standards for gold that promote responsible business practices such as formal and legal mining operations, human rights, labour rights and environmental protection, among others.

Already, two of the mines -- Dakete Small Scale Mining Company in Tarkwa and Golden Resources in Wassa Akropong -- have applied for Fairmined certification while awaiting completion of their auditing.

Solidaridad has so far implemented two projects -- ‘Face of Ghana’s Gold’, which was implemented in partnership with the National Postcode Lottery (NPL) of the Netherlands; and ‘Partnering for Better Livelihoods in the Gold Supply Chain’, currently being implemented in partnership with the Cartier Charitable Foundation (CCF).

The ‘Face of Ghana’s Gold’ project, implemented from 2012 to 2015, was aimed at improving the lives of ASM gold miners and to address the negative effects of their activities on the environment.

It aims to improve the livelihoods of 10,000 people in artisanal gold mining in the Tarkwa area.

The activities undertaken during the project implementation were focused on preparing the five ASMs to fulfil the criteria for Fairmined Certification.

These included a series of training courses made up of first-aid, safety, mercury, environment, distributing free personal protective gear, appointment of Fairtrade officers, support for school-going children of miners, and support for women’s groups.