Regional pact brings hope to artisanal miners 15 years later

Regional pact brings hope to artisanal miners 15 years later

L-R: The Executive Director International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Ambassador João Samuel Caholo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Eng Irene Bateebe (Centre), and acting head of the Regional Peace and Security Department at the same ministry, Ms Edith Namutebi. Photo | PHILIP WAFULA

What you need to know:

- The Lusaka Declaration explicitly focused on Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold (3TG), collectively referred to as “conflict minerals” due to their links to armed conflict and serious human rights violations.

A 15-year-old resolution by 12 member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) has breathed life into Uganda’s Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) sector.

The ICGLR is an inter-governmental organisation founded in 2006 to manage and resolve peace and security issues in Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

At a 2010 special summit in Lusaka, Zambia, the ICGLR launched the Regional Initiative against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources (RINR) to combat the role of mineral resources in armed conflict and state instability, and also disrupt funding of violent groups through mineral trade, enhance state oversight, and improve coordination and cooperation among member states.

The Lusaka Declaration explicitly focused on Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, and Gold (3TG), collectively referred to as “conflict minerals” due to their links to armed conflict and serious human rights violations.

The Declaration endorsed the RINR’s six key objectives which include; eliminating financing for armed groups through mineral exploitation, promoting transparent and responsible sourcing practices, strengthening regional cooperation and information sharing, harmonising national legal frameworks with regional standards, regulating artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), and engaging various stakeholders in responsible natural resource governance.

Shs27b EU project

This is being made possible with the technical and financial support of the European Union (EU) through its four-year (2023-2027) Peace and Security in the Greats Lakes Region Project worth $7.5 million (about Shs27 billion), which is being implemented by IMPACT and GIZ.

The project, which aims to improve mineral governance in the region while advancing security, stability, and development, builds the capacity of the ICGLR and its member states to address artisanal mineral flows and harness their potential as drivers for economic and social development, as well as stability and security.

The formalisation of the ASM sector is to encourage the transformation into an effective engine of sustainable development.

Earlier, during a two-day regional workshop for the validation of the revised regional guide on formalisation of the ASM sector in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District, it was hoped that the effective formalisation of the sector will also professionalise it, thus increasing transparency and help to reduce fraud.

Benefits

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Eng Irene Bateebe, now says ASMs are the hands that dig the gold, faces that sift through the soil and communities that ensure that the miners we rely on are brought to light.

According to her, in Uganda and across the globe, ASMs contribute significantly to livelihoods, local communities and mineral production, yet the sector has been associated with informality, instability and vulnerability.

“The formalisation of ASM is going to enable miners to access legal markets, secure better prices for minerals and avoid exploitation by middlemen; licensing ensures that they can sell directly to formal buyers.

“Registered miners can access loans, grants and investment opportunities from banks, enabling them to upgrade equipment and improve productivity,” Eng Bateebe told this publication in an interview, adding that formalised mining operations contribute to local and national economies through taxes, royalties and job opportunities which fosters sustainable economic development.

“Legal frameworks curb illicit trade, ensuring that mineral revenues benefit the State and local communities rather than criminal networks, while socially, formalisation often introduces labour standards, reducing hazardous practices and improving safety through training and access to proper equipment.

“Miners gain access to social security, health insurance and pension schemes, enhancing their quality of life and reducing vulnerability; fund local infrastructure such as schools and clinics through taxes or community development agreements.”

Eng Bateebe further explains that formalisation allows miners to form cooperatives or associations, giving them a voice in policy discussions and better bargaining power. Environmentally, she says formalisation enforces environmental regulations, reducing deforestation, land degradation, and water pollution caused by unregulated mining.

Other benefits Uganda stands to benefit from the formalisation of the ASM sector, according to Eng Bateebe, are; governance and security, which includes reduced crime and conflict,, transparency and traceability by enabling tracking of mineral supply chains, and providing the government with data on mining activities, enabling a better planning policy and enforcement of regulations.

The ICGLR Executive Director, Ambassador João Samuel Caholo, says the development shows a renewed commitment with our leaders, Heads of State and government to what was decided in Lusaka, Zambia in 2010.

“The leaders recognised the role that illicit exploitation of natural resources represents in the process of security and stability of the Great Lakes region, and as a result, answering to that protocol which was signed by all the heads of state and government of ICGLR member states we put in place six guidance tools.

“One of the six tools is called the formalisation of ASM; so, we are trying to revitalize what our leaders have already decided that must be put in place in our endeavour to transform illicit exploitation into sustainable small-scale mining,” Ambassador Caholo says.

He describes the illegal exploitation of natural resources prior to the Lusaka Declaration as “was bad” and “it is bad”, adding that as professionals, instead of looking at the illicit aspect of the ASM, they are looking at how they can bring them into mainstream mining.

“Small-Scale miners represent the livelihood of many communities in our region, and as a result, we, as experts, under the coordination of ministries responsible for mines, with support from partners under the Secretariat, want to transform the issue of illicit into formalisation.

“We have noticed with concern a lot of illicit ways of doing mining like the use of mercury in gold-mining, land degradation, and most of the communities where this small-scale mining is done lack schools, hospitals and don’t partake in what the mining sector can bring to the development of rural communities.

“It is our hope to transform that aspect of illicit business into something that both governments and societies can rely upon in their development.”