The Challenge.
In a country recovering from two decades of war, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) provides revenue to 16% of the population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 2 million people work in this sector, with half of this workforce being women.
Mining offers economic opportunity, but also a pressing risk of exploitation and abuse, particularly for women. A study undertaken by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and the World Bank (WB) found that one in seven women stated they were forced to trade sex for access to work in mining towns; thirty percent of women stated they had been harassed by men in the mines and only one out of seven women ever discussed this harassment with others. Congolese mining law offers protection for workers, particularly women, but the lack of awareness of these protections creates harmful dynamics and promotes marginalization of women.
The Context.
ASM provides a vital source of income, but unsafe digging techniques, lack of knowledge about health risks, particularly COVID-19, and deep-seated gender inequality make these dangerous places to work.
Local women’s groups have self-organized to try and address these myriad challenges but they lack the resources and knowledge to be effective. In particular, there is limited capacity to leverage evidence-based trainings and to collaborate across provinces to share best practices…
The Approach.
The year-long curriculum emphasizes human rights and Congolese law, women’s protection, and measures for mitigating mining’s environmental impact, particularly erosion and landslides. The materials also leverage evidence-based approaches to change social norms and behaviours, drawing on a combination of proven practices and new approaches. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the curriculum added a module to address a pressing need in these remote but crowded communities to raise awareness on how to prevent the spread of the virus. This project was created through an award from USAID through the inaugural RISE challenge: “Resilient, Inclusive, & Sustainable Environments (RISE): A Challenge to Address Gender-Based Violence in the Environment.”