“The program has benefitted everyone, from the partners to the strengthened organizations. A major achievement was becoming able to export, and the first export was to sell our gold as Fairmined. It was difficult because we did not know how to export, but we learned how and now we don’t have any issues exporting. Another thing was that two years ago we did not have an office. Through the premium obtained from Fairmined certified sales, we have bought an office and equipped it with computers. This gives us a base for future work on strengthening the organization and its members, the partners, and workers, because all companies need to have organizational capacity in order to function.”

Luis Alfredo González

Legal Representative of the Iquira Cooperative in Huila, Colombia, which has been certified since August 2014.

“The DOEN Foundation supported the first steps of ARM, already in 2006, in developing the trade standard for mining. Support also enabled ARM to develop a network and a market of designers and brands willing to embrace the idea. Indeed, ARM was able to develop a network spanning the globe and to generate deep insights in the ASM mining industries, and beyond. Most importantly, ARM also developed and tested all their standards with those that matter the most: the ASM communities benefiting from the certified metals. With their commitment to develop the standard for ethically traded metals mined in an environmentally friendly way, and given the size of the global ASM sector in general, the potential impact of ARM is enormous”.

Manon Klein, Program Manager of the DOEN Foundation.