Actionaid Zimbabwe, an empowerment organisation working with people living in poverty and excluded communities, has decried the absence of the voice of the woman in the regional African Mining Vision (AMV).
The new AMV was drafted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in August 2008.
Actionaid Zimbabwe, in a published document, ‘The African Mining Vision: A Feminist Analysis’, argued that the AMV, which was developed by policy and decision makers rather than by grassroots communities, pays only lip service to prioritising women’s rights.
The analysis pointed out that the AMV has not paid attention to the economic value that women add to the process through their unpaid care work, and the social, emotional and financial toll that the industry takes, say through the impact of displacement of communities to make way for mining operations.
Thus, Actionaid Zimbabwe has called for a need to include a feminist view on the AMV to protect the women’s major source of livelihood, agriculture, which is under threat from mining.
Africa has the highest rural population in the world, meaning that more women live in rural areas threatened by mineral extraction in Africa than on any other continent.
“More than 60% of employed women in Africa work in agriculture and are at risk of being displaced to make way for mining without the offer of livelihood alternatives.
“And it doesn’t stop there. Land degradation and pollution resulting from mining affects water sources, increasing women and girls’ care and work burden as they are the ones who collect water and firewood on behalf of the family.”
The AMV: A Feminist Analysis, which was published to provide a critical analysis of the feminist perspective on the AMV in the context of Zimbabwe, noted that there is little or no protection of women in mining despite being crucial to socio-economic development.
“Women who work in mining are disadvantaged by the industry too.
“Women constitute 50% of the artisanal and small scale miners in the world, and work in often unregulated and risky conditions.
“They are offered no form of protection and their participation in decision making and other processes in the industry are also very poor.
“Women are crucial to socio-economic development in that the caring and other productive labour they provide is fundamental to human survival.
“If this role is not considered in initiatives such as the AMV, then such policies will fail and effectively continue to marginalise women.”
The AMV, as a policy framework, has the power to influence laws and policies on mineral sector governance across African states.
