From the 13th to the 16th of November the first exchange of women miners of the Boyacá department took place. Here, women were able to share experiences, projects and life lessons about their situation in the artisanal and small-scale mining subsector. Also, on the 13th of November, we received a visit of a delegation of the Embassy of Canada, country that finances the project Proudly Women Miners through the Fund for Local Initiatives.

Rolberto Alvarez of the small-scale agromining association “La Fortaleza” from Nariño, Colombia, was invited to participate in the Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference to share the story of his organization and community and their path towards responsible mining.

ARM organised a workshop on the participatory creation of tools and methodologies to encourage gender equality in the ASM sector. Forty-three women took part in the event, amongst which were coal miners, students of the SENA and potters, all members of the project “Orgullosamente Mineras” (Proudly Women Miners).

Delegates from the OECD were in Colombia participating in various activities as part of their commitment to evaluate the current status of the mining system in the country and also to start the OECD project in mining communities in areas affected by conflict and high risk in Colombia.

“It is a very good opportunity for artisanal mining communities to show organizations that we have the skills and that we can make their commitments to be ours as well,” Cristian Morales, president of the Board of Directors of the Coodmilla LTDA small-scale mining organization.