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Women’s Rights and Mining is an collaborative effort of NGOs, researchers and government organisations to secure commitments from key stakeholders in the mining sector to address key gender concerns

A guide for governments, companies and financial institutions to uphold women’s rights in the supply chains of minerals for renewable energy technologies

DO invest in women’s rights because women’s rights are human rights and need to be upheld. Additionally, investments in minerals supply chains that promote women’s rights can yield higher and more sustainable returns in terms of mineral production, poverty reduction and broader development effects.

DO assess and mitigate gender risks within your mineral supply chains, your programmes, and financial flows by setting up a human rights due diligence system to ensure that serious abuses are identified, addressed, prevented, mitigated and accounted for. This includes attention to female workers’ rights including occupational safety and health, gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual harassment that occur in mineral supply chains.

DO realize that women are disproportionally affected by environmental risks in mineral supply chains. Women experience environmental damage and degradation differently and more severely than men due to women’s role in food security and primary responsibility for management of household water and energy needs.

DO ensure that women’s voices are heard and their work in mineral production and trade is valued. Use inclusive and participatory approaches to raise women’s awareness about their rights and how to engage in important decision-making processes, such as their role in negotiating their community’s prior and informed consent to develop a mining project, access to land and compensation.

DO assess and optimize opportunities within your minerals supply chains, to advance women’s rights across mineral supply chains. Simply targeting the women with training at key points in the supply chain can ameliorate a range of inequalities, as can distributing a proportion of mineral royalties and taxes to respond to women’s priorities

DO insist on measures to realize women’s rights across mineral supply chains. Make it your good business practice to take practical actions to realize women’s rights, and expect affiliates, suppliers, customers, and other supply chain actors to do the same. Governments, companies and financial institutions can apply pressure and assist upstream suppliers active in the extraction, transport and trade of minerals to execute gender impact assessments to ensure their projects minimise harm and play a positive role in addressing gender inequality.

DO make a gender action plan and make your reports publicly available. Within the gender action plan, describe how to identify and address gender risks in your supply chain and incorporate practical opportunities to rectify gender inequality. Embed this in audits and annual reporting, using relevant indicators to monitor performance.

DO demonstrate leadership and commitment, including within company management systems, to show support for women’s rights comes from the top. Use leadership statements and organizational policies and procedures to communicate your commitment to gender equality and women’s rights both internally and externally to your suppliers and the public. Develop capacity internally and across your networks to build understanding of how gender inequalities are sustained in mineral supply chains and stimulate action to redress the balance.

DO introduce measures to counter risks of backlash as women become more empowered. Resistance and opposition may arise as the traditional domain of men is challenged and efforts to “keep women in their place,” ranging from sexual harassment and sexual and physical violence to threats and public humiliation, represent additional risks of serious abuses. Include these in your risk management plan and suggest adequate mitigation, monitoring and accountability mechanisms

DO get the facts and use them! There is a growing body of evidence on gender inequality and women’s rights violations in extraction, transport and trade of minerals. Support gender research and strengthen the evidence base. Ensure that your organization collects data sensitively on the gender dimensions of serious abuses.

News & Events

news

WRM at the OECD Forum 2024: “Reclaiming Power? Perspectives from the Global South on addressing structural barriers to female participation in ASM”

Empowering women in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) requires targeted strategies: enhancing visibility, access to technology, and financial systems, while ensuring safety and inclusion. At the WRM Partner Session at this year’s OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, various organizations shared their experiences for moving forward and achieving these goals.

 

Read more here.

news

Successful launch of the Guide to Gender and Mining

On 25th June 2024, Women’s Rights and Mining together with the GIZ Sector Programme Extractives and Development hosted a webinar to launch its “Guide to Gender and Mining – Issues, Actors and Initiatives”.

 

Read more.

 

events

25th June Launch Webinar: A Guide to Gender and Mining

Women’s Rights and Mining invites you to the launch of our Guide to Gender and Mining. The guide offers an overview of the key issues, actors, initiatives, and resources in the field of gender and mining. It was written by Sophie Rickard and commissioned by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), overseen by WRM.

For the official launch, we welcome different actors that will share their insights and be part of a Q&A, including:

Sophie Rickard is an independent consultant who wrote the Guide to Gender.
Mauricio Winkelried is the manager of Solidaridad Network’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).
Rosebella Osei is the Head of Strategy & Planning at International Women in Mining (IWiM).

 

Join us at 25th June, 15:30-16:30 CEST here!

news

New Publication: Guide to Gender and Mining

Women’s Rights and Mining together with GIZ on behalf of BMZ recently published a guide to gender and mining, which has been written by Sophie Rickard. The “Guide to Gender and Mining – Actors, Issues and Initiatives” should help practitioners to learn about the activities which are implemented in the sector. The guide also serves as an actors mapping, which can help practitioners to get in touch with each other and develop gender-responsive measures in the context of mining and mineral supply chains.