After a launch at national level in May, the municipality of Réo, in the Centre-ouest region, hosted its first regional workshop launch of the EU-funded “Project to Support the Creation of a Legal and Responsible Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Burkina Faso“.
The Centre-ouest is one of the regions selected to implement of this project along with the Centre-nord (some of the stakeholders were present in Réo) and Sud-Ouest (where the project will be launched in a few weeks).
Well aware of the issues and challenges that the sector encounters, the participants welcomed the arrival of such an initiative. An elected representative testified: “This is the first time that I attended a project opening for the promotion of artisanal mining. Thank you for your courage! “
Stressing the importance of adopting a cross-cutting strategy, they welcomed the idea of creating a platform for provincial dialogue about artisanal mining, as envisioned by the project. A platform in which they laid the foundation during an afternoon rich in ideas and debates, and whose next session will take place in a few weeks, with the aim to start thinking of a shared vision and concrete actions for the sector’s formalization!
Now that the project is officially launched in the region, the ARM team, in close collaboration with ANEEMAS and the local authorities, will continue their work identifying mining groups and analyzing their mining practices; which will allow them to begin direct and integral support to the artisanal miners for their progressive formalization at the beginning of the year.
