From May 11th to July 31st 2020, the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) is participating in a global data collection on the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in artisanal mining communities.
This data collection on the impacts of COVID-19 in ASM communities is funded by the World Bank’s Extractives Global Programmatic Support Multi-Donor Trust Fund and coordinated through the Delve COVID-19 Impact Reporting initiative which covers 23 different countries and is made available at www.delvedatabase.org. Its objective is to collect, process and share information and data to provide a real understanding of how COVID-19-related restrictions affect the economic and social lives of miners and their families.
It involves the participation of various NGOs, Research Institutes, Consulting firms, and international development organizations around the world.
COVID-19 in the world:
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused enormous challenges around the world, disrupting the global economy, resulting in many human casualties and still threatening many populations. Described as much more than a health crisis, it has also triggered devastating social, economic and political crises that will leave deep scars.
Today, it is more than necessary to assess its impact at all levels of human life.
So what exactly is the situation of artisanal mining communities?
In the context of the global crisis generated by COVID-19, artisanal mining communities are exposed to a number of risks that urgently need to be assessed at local, national and global levels and take mitigating measures.
Barrier measures imposed at the global level to protect public health are likely to create economic and social hardship for communities and miners, already living in often precarious situations. Understanding the real impact of the pandemic is therefore the starting point for support initiatives.
The support of the Alliance for Responsible Mining:
As part of this global project, ARM will focus its efforts on Burkina Faso. Thus, throughout the period, various actors (artisanal miners, buyers, civil society, public administration, etc.) from the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in the Centre-North and South-West regions will be interviewed by its local team. This collection will be done through telephone interviews based on questionnaires developed by Delve.
Focusing on key themes such as mineral supply chains, health and safety, food security, human security and gender, these data will be collected and recorded on Kobo Toolbox.
The results of the data collection will be published on the Delve website for public use.
As a result of this data collection, ARM will also produce useful analyses for understanding the impact of the COVID-19 in mining communities.
ARM is participating in this project with the financial support of the OECD.
