• Stakeholders must develop a safe and well-coordinated abuse report mechanism in mining sites.
• Women have inadequate technical skills as they lack training in specialized fields such as Mining Engineering.
• Although women had control over the minerals they mined, their negotiation skills were limited.
Policy Monitoring and Research Centre has urged government and stakeholders in the Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) to address structural impediments such as cultural and gender norms that continue to undermine women’s participation in decision-making, access to resources and economic participation in productive sectors such as mining.
Centre Acting Executive Director Sydney Mwamba tells Money FM News that Stakeholders must also develop a safe and well-coordinated abuse report mechanism in mining sites, inclusive of abuses that unduly affect women.
Mr. Mwamba stated that according to the organization’s research findings, women have inadequate technical skills as they lack training in specialized fields such as Mining Engineering, Geology, and Surveying, among others and this poses a limitation to successful mining ventures
“The findings indicate that women had inadequate technical skills as they lacked training in specialized fields such as Mining Engineering, Geology, Surveying, and Metallurgy, among others and this posed a limitation to successful mining ventures. In addition, they lacked access to geological information, which is critical in accessing investment opportunities, developing bankable financial proposals and mine planning.”
“Furthermore, although women had control over the minerals they mined, their negotiation skills were limited. The lack of negotiating power led to failure of not yielding maximum benefits from the minerals mined as foreign buyers benefited more due to exploitative pricing mechanisms,” Mr. Mwamba stated.
He further stressed the need for Government to provide adequate funding for research and knowledge sharing to fill the gap about women’s unique place in the Artisanal and Small-scale Mining sector, which has remained largely undocumented.
