Awareness Raising

The face of ASGM and conditions in Indonesia can change for the better and healthier by switching miners to using mercury-free technologies and enabling them to sell their gold to the formal market. This video from the planetGOLD project in Indonesia explains why it's critical to Make Mercury History in artisanal and small-scale gold mining to ensure healthy food chains and to protect human health today and for future generations. Closed captions in English are available.

Researchers or other assessors should use this guide to help ministries of health develop a public health strategy as part of the ASGM National Action Plan. The evidence collected will clarify key issues to consider for the public health strategy. The approach for collecting and using the evidence was developed by WHO and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and pilot-tested in three countries – Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria – between 2017 and 2019.

Also available in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

This comic book was produced by the planetGOLD Indonesia project for young audiences and as an educational tool for school teachers to use, raising awareness about the dangers of exposure to mercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

This set of posters created by the planetGOLD Guyana project provides information about the dangers of mercury exposure, health problems it can cause, and practical tips miners can take to reduce the risk of exposure for themselves and their families.

In this animated video produced by the planetGOLD project in Indonesia, Awam Prakoso, a well-known storyteller in Indonesia, explains to young viewers the dangers of exposure to mercury through a story about two young boys who want to play soccer near a small-scale gold mine. The story tells children to stay away from any potentially polluted areas and articulates the need for small-scale mining to move away from mercury use.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is often associated with environmental degradation, workers’ exploitation, unsafe practices and even conflict. However, the sector is also a source of employment and local economic development in some of the world’s most deprived areas, where few alternatives exist. Few are aware of these benefits, but effective communications can help provide a more balanced view. This issue brief summarizes an analysis of the state of play in ASGM communications (including barriers to effective communication) and emerging trends, along with recommendations aimed at communicators and decision-makers.

The issue brief is also available in French and Spanish

What is mercury, and what can happen if you are exposed to it? In this comic book created by the planetGOLD Indonesia project with a script by Professor Marcello Veiga, these topics and more are explored through animated characters teaching young audiences fundamental truths about the dangers of mercury in ASGM and how they can avoid it.

The planetGOLD Guyana team created these posters to raise awareness using the voices of miners discussing the need for safer, more responsible mining practices based on their own experience and perspective.

An Accountability and Grievance Mechanism is a way of recording and resolving grievances. These posters developed by the planetGOLD project in Guyana are tools to inform the public about its mechanism and the process by which anyone who feels they are negatively impacted by the project could report a grievance.

This manual provides training strategies for people teaching artisanal miners and their families both health-related and technical information and skills. This includes peer-educators, technical experts with little or no teaching experience, as well as those accustomed to teaching in academic settings.