It will contribute to the empowerment of rural communities engaging in artisanal and small-scale mining activities in Colombia and Peru.
In November 2017 a new project, promoted by the Alliance for Responsible Mining and funded by the Ford Foundation, kicked off in Peru (Puno) and Colombia (Cauca and Antioquia). The project’s aim is to create venues for discussion and critical thinking among the different actors involved in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in each intervention territory.
In the Laboratories of Responsible ASM, debates will be held and decisions will be made concerning sustainable local development. Management committees will be formed of diverse stakeholders, ranging from the miners themselves to other community members (for example, ranchers and business owners who indirectly benefit from ASM), regional and national authorities, and members of civil society organizations. Participatory workshops will be held beforehand to build skills on conducting discussions and political decision-making.
From dialogue to action. After the community discussion on present concerns for sustainable development and possible aspects to be improved in the future, the group will participate in drafting an action plan that specifies the activities needed to bring about these suggested changes
Actions to date:
In Peru, ARM is working on building our knowledge of the territory and contacting the actors with whom we will collaborate. At present, these include leaders of gold ASM organizations; groups of organized women miners (gold waste pickers in Ollachea and gold panners in Ananaea); mining organizations in the area that already have or are in the process of receiving the Fairmined Certification; local, regional, and national authorities; and other civil society organizations (Pure Earth, UNDP, and AGC) that have been working in the area.
In Colombia, preparations are being made to convene the first management committee, who will meet in the municipality of Suárez (Cauca).
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