Resources

This paper explores the gendered contexts of artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa, and traces how women are likely to be excluded from current policy pushes to formally regulate the sector. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative research results from six artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites, two in each of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, the paper traces how the gendered organization of mining roles, when viewed in relation to women’s disproportionate household and care work, and the gendered norms around what women should do, devalues and delimits women’s mining work. The result, we argue, is that

The artisanal small-scale gold mining activity provides a significant boost in economic activity for rural communities, yet the informal nature of the majority of operations in this sector makes it difficult for miners to access financing and cleaner technologies that could transform their operations. Both women and men are engaged in ASGM in Indonesia. However, GOLD-ISMIA Project has come to understand that there are gender-based differences in the types of work women and men are engaged relating to ASGM, leading to gaps in the income they can earn, disparities in access to knowledge and technologies, and differences in the health risks they

“Design and implementation of the gender action plan of the planetGOLD Peru project” gathers the experience developed by the initiative between 2020 and 2024 to recognize the work of women in small-scale and artisanal mining in Peru. The document summarizes the process from the diagnosis findings, the work with national actors, and the roadmaps followed at the local level with women mining organizations in Arequipa, Piura, and Puno regions in Peru. Also available in Spanish.

In most countries, women do not enjoy the same opportunities around access to, control over, and benefits from artisanal mining in their communities.

This report includes three case studies around the experiences of women in ASM in Zimbabwe, Peru and the Philippines. The document is available in English, French and Spanish. 

This paper focuses on women’s roles in Guyana's ASGM sector, with the intention of providing comprehensive findings that can be used to make the sector more gender-inclusive and environmentally and socially sustainable.

This document summarizes the environmental and occupational health hazards and adverse health outcomes associated with ASGM. Special considerations for women and children are also explored.

Half of the workers in the Congolese artisanal pits are women, and for years they have faced inequality and sexual harassment. Now a grassroots movement aims to change that.

The MIT D-Lab Inclusive Economies program and the Alliance for Responsible Mining in Colombia, joined together to launch a two-year program addressing gender-based violence affecting women engaged in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Antioquia region of Colombia.

The project uses an innovative movement-building approach to foster women miners’ associations and homegrown advocacy to address social and economic gender-based violence in mining communities in Andes, Zaragoza, Nechí, and El Bagre in Antioquia, Colombia.

GII is a composite metric of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. A low GII value indicates low inequality between women and men, and vice-versa.