By Ibrahim Barrie
A research conducted by Women on Mining and Extractives (WoME) has revealed that women engaged in artisanal mining within the ages of 18-65 which is considered as working-age population cannot read and write, noting that 18% of those populations are school dropouts.
The report added that minors are mostly found on mining sites when they should be in schools.
WOME therefore called for Government and Civil society actions in order to remedy the situation if they should get the 30 percent quota of women artisanal miners.
The report launched at the New Brookfieds Hotel in Freetown on the 4th November this year, with funding support from OXFAM, targeted mining communities in Kono, Kenema, Tonkolili and Koinadugu with focus on female farmers, traditional Authorities and government.
Speaking at the report launch, Esther Finda Kandeh, Executive Director of WoME said that after meeting with artisanal mining women, she realized that “the purpose of the artisanal mining is really not been actualized in the lives of the women”. The purpose of this Artisanal mining according to them, is to get enough resources from the mining to solve their problems. That she said has not been realized.
However, she said WOME is working with those women that are impacted by the mining activities through capacity building to ensure they become independent miners.
Cedae Palmer, Artisana Mining Manger at the National Minerals Agency, said that women constitute 18th percent of artisanal miners in Sierra Leone. Therefore, he said mining laws should be gender sensitive.
“We aim at helping artisanal miners who work on lands with little or no knowledge to get ore by providing them specific lands that have the ore from the geophysical survey,” he said.
He also noted an ongoing project that provides credit facilities to artisanal miners through commercial banks to prevent them from being exploited by dubious dealers who give them credit at high interest rates.
Keynote speaker, Prince Williams encouraged women to open companies and bank accounts which they will use to their advantage to get loans from banks and licenses. “If you go to a bank you say we’ve ripostes of that diamond if you do not have a bank account or a company they are not going to do anything for you,” he said, adding that “no bank will loan you if you do not have a legal entity which they will track whatever they loan out to you”.
Bunting K. Williams advised artisanal women miners that the use of mercury is very fatal to the environment and to human health. “That vapor, if a woman of child bearing inhales it, it is carcinogenic that will potentially cause cancer and it also affects the fetus. When it goes in to the water, it enters in to the food chain, affects aquatic animals and it accumulates in those animals and when you eat the fish eventually you are carrying mercury,” he said.
Kumba Fellie a female Artisanal Miner from Kono District urged the government to include mines and mineral in the school curriculum,stating this will help enlighten women of their rights in mining.
Part of the recommendations of the report, is for the government to review the policy of the artisanal mining and make it more favorable to women and that surface rent should accommodate women empowerment or have widows with more children through financial schemes with minimal interest rate.
It also encourages civil societies to raise awareness and communities to take care of the environment and gender based violence issues.
Copyright © Politico Online (08/11/21)
