Schedule - 2026 Global Forum on ASGM

9:00-9:40 – Welcome and Opening Remarks 

The opening session of the 2026 Global Forum on ASGM will feature greetings from the host government followed by opening remarks from representatives of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the Global Environment Facility, and the UN Environment Programme. 

Master of Ceremonies: Juan Manuel Chavarría - Communications Expert (formerly with planetGOLD Colombia)

Speakers:

• H.E. Dr. Manuel Alberto Zambrano Chang - Vice Minister of Health, The Republic of Panama 
• Monika Stankiewicz - Executive Secretary, Minamata Convention on Mercury
• Anil Sookdeo - Senior Environmental Specialist, Global Environment Facility

9:40-10:35 – Progress and Perspectives from planetGOLD  

This session will provide an orientation to the planetGOLD programme, highlighting its objectives and key lessons learned to date. Participants will gain insights into progress across participating countries and explore how knowledge, tools, and experiences from Phase 1 countries have informed and strengthened implementation in Phase 2 countries. 

Facilitator:

• Ludovic Bernaudat - Senior Programme Management Officer, UNEP

Speakers:

• Andrea Ravines - Former planetGOLD Peru Finance Expert

• Gabriela Urquidi - planetGOLD Bolivia Deputy Team Leader

• German Marquines - Former planetGOLD Colombia Project Coordinator

• Ibrahima Doumbouya - planetGOLD Guinea Project Manager

• Mauricio Rodas - planetGOLD Paraguay Project Coordinator

• Saidou Kabre - Former planetGOLD Burkina Faso Project Manager

10:35-10:50 – Coffee/Networking Break 

10:50-11:50 – Engagement and Collaboration with Indigenous Communities 

By drawing lessons from past and ongoing planetGOLD project experiences, this fireside chat-style discussion will strengthen attendees’ understanding of respectful engagement, partnership, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) with Indigenous communities. 

Facilitator:

• Elizabeth Huanca Coila - Illegal Mining and Social Participation Specialist, Andean Community

Speakers:

• Gaston Regie Koetoe-Agaasie - Director, KAMPOS (Kwinti, Aluku, Matawai, Paamaka, Okanisi, Saamaka), Suriname

• Gloria Pilamon-Langbayan, Social Welfare Officer, Sagada Municipal Office, Philippines

• Shane Cornelius, National Toshaos Council (NTC) and Toshao of Karrau Amerindian Village, Guyana

11:50-13:00 – Women’s Advances in the ASGM Sector 

Through access to finance, changes in social norms, community organization and government policy advances, women continue to advance in the ASGM sector. This panel will discuss key barriers women in the sector face, practical entry points for reform, and lessons from the field on how financing and formalization efforts can better support women’s participation, leadership, and economic empowerment. 

Facilitator:

• Nyaradzo Mutonhori - Project Manager, planetGOLD Zimbabwe

Speakers:

• Monica Anyede Etyang - Miner, Busia United Miners Association, Uganda

• Rosine Atafeinam Abalo - President, Associaton of Women in Mining and Enterprise of Togo

• Saidou Kabre - Former planetGOLD Burkina Faso Project Manager, Artisanal Gold Council

• Tuya Damdinjamts - Artisanal Miner/Leader, "Shijir Khishig" Partnership, Mongolia

13:00-14:00 – Lunch/Networking Break

14:00-15:00 – Responsible ASGM Poster Session
Location: Contadora 1 & 2

Held in the Exhibit Area, this poster session will provide a dynamic, interactive opportunity to share ideas, exchange information, and connect with other attendees. Representatives of planetGOLD projects and from the Programme Advisory Group will be available to discuss their poster highlighting promising or innovative activities and achievements related to ASGM formalization, miners’ access to finance, or responsible ASGM gold supply chains. 

15:00-16:00 – ASGM and the Environment: Preventing Impacts 

This interactive workshop will explore approaches to reducing ASGM’s environmental and biodiversity impacts through preventive strategies grounded in ecosystem understanding and proven, policy-relevant solutions. 

Facilitator:

• Luis Fernandez - Executive Director, Wake Forest's Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA)

Speakers:

• Brenda Koekkoek - Senior Coordination Office, Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

• Gloria Pilamon-Langbayan - Social Welfare Officer, Sagada Municipal Office, Philippines

• Julio C. Porras - Project Manager - Colombia, Artisanal Gold Council

16:00-17:30 – ASGM and the Environment: Monitoring and Mitigating Impacts on Biodiversity 

Continuing the discussion of environmental impacts, this engaging workshop will help participants understand monitoring, remediation, and restoration of ASGM-impacted areas using robust assessment frameworks, cross-country learning, and solutions including nature-based approaches and innovative financing. 

Facilitator:

• Anne Nakafeero, Principal Environment Officer, National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) Uganda; Chair, Global Mercury Partnership

Speakers:

• Claudia Vega - Mercury Program Coordinator, Wake Forest's Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA)

• David Evers - Executive Director, Biodiversity Research Institute

• France Cabanillas - Reforestation and Restoration Coordinator/Local Coordinator, Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA)/Pure Earth

• German Marquines - Former Project Coordinator, planetGOLD Colombia

9:00-9:15 – Opening Remarks

The opening session on Wednesday will include reflections from the previous day’s sessions and workshops, and an overview of the day’s schedule.

Speakers:

• Juan Manuel Chavarria - Master of Ceremonies / Communications Expert (formerly with planetGOLD Colombia)
• Anne Nakafeero - Principal Environment Officer, National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) Uganda
• Luis Fernandez - Executive Director, Wake Forest's Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA)
   

9:15-10:25 – Miner Roundtable: Challenges of Informality 

In this facilitated discussion with miner representatives from multiple planetGOLD countries, participants will learn how informality affects small-scale miners’ everyday operations and their priorities for formalization assistance.  

Facilitator:

• Gina D'Amato - Executive Director, Alliance for Responsible Mining

Speakers:

• Eba Jean Pierre N'Guessan - Artisanal Miner and President of the Management Committee, N’ZI Gold Resources Cooperative of Ahounienfoutou-Bongouanou, Côte d'Ivoire

• Eilyn Villalobos Ramírez - Miners’ Representative, Costa Rica

• Kundai Midzi - Miner, Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-Scale Women Miners Association, Zimbabwe 

• Noel Lumbama - Miner, Kwetu Cooperative, Zambia

• Soveida Beatriz Castaneda Alcerro - Secretary, Mixed Cooperative Los Túneles de las Minas Limited, (Quimistán, Santa Bárbara) Honduras

10:25-10:45 – Coffee/Networking Break 

10:45-11:45 – Confronting Illicit Mining and Trade in Gold

This panel discussion will examine how illicit gold mining, related criminality, and the illegal mercury trade affect the contexts in which responsible ASGM initiatives operate. The session will showcase concrete examples of efforts and solutions that have been adopted to address these challenges. 

Facilitator:

• Jonathan Hamisi - Intergovernmental Forum on Mining and Metals (IGF)

Speakers:

• Amara Keita - Project Manager, planetGOLD Mali

• Elizabeth Huanca Coila - Illegal Mining and Social Participation Specialist, General Secretary of the Andean Community

• Gabriel Funari - Amazon Basin Coordinator, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI TOC)

• Juan Martin Pastor - Programme Management Officer, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

• Michèle Viale - Coordinator, Environnemental Crime Program, INTERPOL 

11:45-13:00 – New Models of Finance for ASGM 

This session will present new mechanisms to support better access to finance for ASGM via commercial banks, rural banks and microfinance institutions—describing how the mechanisms were established, highlighting key features, and summarizing experience to date with the use of these mechanisms. 

Facilitator:

• Miranda Werstiuk - Monetary Metals & Co. / Chair, planetGOLD Programme Advisory Group

Speakers:

• Abdulrahim Msonde - CRDB, Tanzania

• Andrea Ravines - Former Finance Expert, planetGOLD Peru

• Emmanuel Antwi Yirenkyi - CEO, Gold Empire Resources; Formerly with Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners

• Frank Boateng - Finance Consultant, planetGOLD Ghana

• Roger Tissot - Executive Director, Artisanal Gold Council

13:00-14:00 – Lunch/Networking Break

14:00-15:00 – Mercury-Free Technologies Poster Session  
Location: Contadora 1 & 2

Held in the Exhibit Area, this poster session will provide an opportunity for representatives of planetGOLD national projects and members of the Programme Advisory Group to highlight technology transfer interventions that help miners shift to mercury-free, responsible mining.  

15:00-17:00 – Overcoming Barriers to Uptake of New Technology (Parallel Session A)  
Location: Contadora 3 & 4

This interactive session will consider common barriers miners face to adopting improved, mercury-free technologies, with a showcase of example solutions that have been adopted to address these barriers. 

Facilitator:

• Abigail Mwailenge - Project Manager, planetGOLD Zambia

Speakers:

• Abigail Ocate - Former Project Manager, planetGOLD Philippines

• Blessing Hungwe - Knowledge Exchange Coordinator, Delve Exchange

• Erika Bermeo - Project Coordinator, planetGOLD Ecuador

• Hector Ruben Aguilero Aquino - Vice President, Paso Yobái Miners Association (AMPY), Paraguay

• Mauricio Rodas - Project Coordinator, planetGOLD Paraguay

15:00 –17:00– Pathways for Selecting Appropriate Technology (Parallel Session B)  
Location: Contadora 1 & 2

Using guided group exercises, this interactive session will prompt participants to consider the steps needed in choosing optimal technologies for responsible, mercury free gold production, depending on site characteristics.  

Facilitators:

• Paul Cordy - Cordy Geosciences

• German Marquines - Fomer Project Coordinator, planetGOLD Colombia

9:00-9:15 – Opening Remarks 

The opening session on Thursday will include reflections from the previous day’s workshops on mercury-free technologies and will provide an overview of the final day’s schedule.  

Speakers:

• Juan Manuel Chavarria - Master of Ceremonies / Communications Expert (formerly with planetGOLD Colombia)
• Abigail Mwailenge - Project Manager, planetGOLD Zambia
• Paul Cordy - Cordy Geosciences

9:15-10:25 – Case Studies of Cooperation between Large-scale Mining (LSM) and Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) 

This session will showcase existing examples of cooperation between large-scale entities and small-scale gold miners and highlight how other stakeholders in the sector can support these arrangements.   

Facilitator:

• Nellie Mutemeri - Mining Practice Director, MutConsult / Adjunct Professor in the School of Mining Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Speakers:

• Edward Bickham - Senior Adviser, World Gold Council

• Helton John Castillo - Miner, La Pangui Mining Concession, Ecuador

• Ibrahima Doumbouya - Project Manager, planetGOLD Guinea

• Juan David Ramirez Soto - Sustainability Manager, Gramalote

• Juan Jose Herrera - Business Sustainability Director, Lundin Gold, Ecuador 

10:25-11:25 – Supporting Responsible ASGM Supply Chains 

This facilitated discussion will explore how gold buyers (Central Banks, gold refineries, jewelers and other downstream gold buyers) are creating enabling systems for artisanal and small-scale miners to sell their responsibly produced gold into formal supply chains. 

Facilitator:

• Edward Bickham - Senior Adviser, World Gold Council

Speakers:

• *Alan Martin - Head of Responsible Sourcing, London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) (*by pre-recorded video)

• Andres Aponte - Policy Analyst, Mineral Supply Chains, OECD  

• Christian Sieber - Programme Director, Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA)

• Eduard Cornew - Co-founder, President and CEO, Mwamba Mining, Tanzania

• Erizelle Linaban - Director of the Mint and Refinery Operations Department, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Philippines

• Khishgee Dondov - Former Project Manager, planetGOLD Mongolia

11:30-13:15 – Regional Stakeholder Dialogues: Regional Priority Setting and Knowledge Sharing 

In these facilitated regional meetings, project staff, miners, governments and other stakeholders from each region will discuss priorities and collaboration opportunities. The goal of these meetings is to facilitate networking, spur meaningful dialogue on region-specific ASGM challenges, and foster collaborative approaches to advance responsible mining practices. 

Latin America and the Caribbean Stakeholder Dialogue (Spanish Speakers)
Location: Contadora 1 & 2

Facilitators:

• Marilyn Kunce - Latin America Regional Coordinator, planetGOLD Programme

• Mauricio Rodas - Project Coordinator, planetGOLD Paraguay

Francophone Africa Stakeholder Dialogue (French Speakers) 
Location: Gran Ancon

Facilitators:

• Assietou Gaye - Francophone Africa Regional Coordinator, planetGOLD Programme

• Michel Yao Koffi - Project Manager, planetGOLD Côte d'Ivoire

Anglophone Stakeholder Dialogue (English Speakers) 
Location: Contadora 3 & 4

Facilitators:

• Carmen Teichgraber - Program Director, IMPACT

• Emilian Manishimwe - Project Manager, planetGOLD Uganda

13:15-14:15 – Lunch/Networking Break

14:15-15:15 – Awareness Raising and Communication Showcase 
Location: Contadora Foyer

Held in the Foyer Exhibit Area, this showcase session will provide an opportunity for planetGOLD projects to highlight communication strategies, practical tools and products that raise awareness, persuade, support behavior change, and build broad support for enabling more responsible ASGM to flourish. 

15:15-15:35 – Reflections from Regional Stakeholder Dialogues 

Facilitators of each regional stakeholder dialogue will provide succinct summaries of their discussion and recommendations made by each group. 

15:35-16:45 – Miners’ Takeaways and Perspectives 

Miner representatives will reflect during this facilitated discussion on what they have learned from the forum, their hopes for the future, and ways in which they can contribute to advancing responsible, mercury-free mining through their engagement with planetGOLD. 

Facilitator:

• Susan Keane - Global Coordinator, planetGOLD Programme

Speakers:

• Adolfo Loda - Secretary of Environment, Regional Federation of Mining Cooperatives, Bolivia

• Amadou Sanoussy Dafe - President, National Confederation of Gold Miners’ Cooperative Societies of Mali

• Georges Randriamaniry - Miner / Mayor of the Rural Commune of Vohilava, Madagascar

• Kathleen Blom - Chairwoman, Foundation for Mining Rights Holders, Suriname

• Tamba Christopher Lamin - Miner and Chairman, Landowners Association, Sierra Leone

16:45-17:00 – Closing Remarks and Looking Ahead 

Representatives of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, GEF, and UN Environment Programme formally close the 2026 Global Forum on ASGM, commenting on key opportunities identified throughout the event and providing forward-looking remarks on what activities lie ahead for the planetGOLD programme. 

Speakers:

• Monika Stankiewicz - Executive Secretary, Minamata Convention on Mercury
• Anil Sookdeo - Senior Environmental Specialist, Global Environment Facility
• Altanbagana Bayarsaikhan - Program Officer, UN Environment Programme