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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 is part of a series entitled "Access to Finance for Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners: Imagining Alternatives and Creating Opportunities", which investigates how artisanal miners seeking to make the move to cleaner and more efficient production methods can access the capital they need under fair and inclusive terms

The authors estimate mercury releases from artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) based on available data about mercury and gold exports and imports by country and from field reports from the countries known to have active ASGM communities.

With the global outbreak of COVID-19, the planetGOLD project in Indonesia teamed up with well-known Indonesian storyteller Awam Prakoso for this video sharing health and safety messages with young audiences about protecting themselves and others from the virus.

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 mining should not be shunned or left to collapse post COVID-19 because the sector has a direct impact on the livelihoods of many vulnerable urban and peri-urban communities. 

Revenue from mining dropped from $2.24 million in April 2019 to just $0.33 million in April 2020 – an 85% decline year on year, according to mines ministry figures seen by Reuters.

In this paper, the AGC announces its three signal interventions for dealing with the crisis in ASGM communities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic: (i) Supply Chain Reform Project – a project to restart and reform artisanal gold supply chains; (ii) Health In Gold Out – a project to deliver health assistance via this gold stakeholder network; and (iii) Artisanal Gold Prices Database – a project to monitor these interventions via a worldwide database of artisanal gold prices.

By combining their expertise in the areas of preventing child labor, improving working conditions and providing a clear path to market, Fairphone aims to work with ASM in Uganda to establish a sustainable, traceable gold supply chain that creates a better future for miners and their families.