Participants at the three-day capacity building workshop in Bauchi.
By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The President and Founder, Women In Mining In Nigeria, Engineer Janet Adeyemi, has lamented that women miners in Nigeria are constantly being subjected to inhumane treatment by mining companies, their staff and male labourers.
She stated these in her speech at the opening ceremony of a three-day capacity building workshop at Amaks Hotel and Suites, Bauchi.
Adeyemi who explained that in most mining sites, women miners are raped, abused, misused, over laboured and shortchanged by mining companies in the country, also lamented that these companies unlawfully engage the services of young children who should be in school studying instead of being at mining sites.
Our correspondent reports that the workshop, which was organized by WIMIN in collaboration with the Open Society Foundation, is aimed at highlighting the association’s one year implementation strategy as a key tool for promoting the engagement of women in safe and sustainable mining practices in Nigeria.
The sole aim of this training is safeguarding the Rights of Women and Children in the Solid Minerals Sector by addressing issues such as laws, policy and regulations affecting the mining sector, Gender Rights and Child Rights in the Mining Sector, Mining Financing, and SHE (Safety, Health and Environment).
According to her, considering the challenges women miners faced, the organization launched a one year programme in three states of Nigeria with the sole aim of “Safeguarding the Rights of Women and Children in the Solid Minerals Sector in Nigeria” with Bauchi among the states.
She said: “In most mining sites and host communities in Nigeria, women are constantly abused, misused, over laboured, underpaid, shortchanged and even raped by the male labourers and staff of mining companies.
“The companies also unlawfully welcome the labour of young children who should not be exposed to the mining environment yet but should be in school. The children are stretched and over laboured by mining companies and their wages are given to their mothers who are equally on the mining site.”
She said that currently, her organization has a membership base of over 5,000 women cutting across Artisanal and Small Scale Miners, Mining Operators, Mining Experts, Geologist, Lawyers, Engineers, Students of Geology and Mining Engineering, women in mining host communities, and Male Advocates (known as HE4SHE Advocates).
According to her: “In just one year, we have built the capacity of over 1,000 women across five geo-political zones in Nigeria on safe and sustainable mining practices and other cross-cutting issues.
“Our activities revolve around capacity building, health and safety, sustainability, good and inclusive governance, economic integration of women through digitization into the mineral and metal market, promotion of responsible mining, sourcing and value chain addition, taking advantage of our network regionally, in Africa and globally.”
The WIMIN President and Founder informed that a few years back, the organization was mainstreamed into the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development as a recognized gender-rights organization in the mining sector and “currently, the Ministry through its Min-Diver Project is positioning WIMIN at an elevated altitude in the mining sector.
“Earlier this year, WIMIN was at Accra Ghana as part of the ECOWAS expert team given the mandate to review the draft ECOWAS Charter on Gender Mainstreaming in the Geo-extractive sector.
“Earlier this year, we established the Girls For Mining programme (G4M), setting up Miners Clubs in various schools and providing training and mentorship to young girls of school age with the goal of integrating them into the mining sector.
“This is a component of our programme to mainstream gender in the mining sector, this time with a unique system of human capital investment for our young girls, creating a pipeline for the steady inflow of skilled and motivated female miners into the mining sector,” she said.
