Artisanal Gold Council, as part of its efforts to highlight the importance of our gender equity work and align ourselves with the principles of this year’s International Women’s Day theme Inspire Inclusion, is excited to highlight a historic first for AGC and Burkina Faso.
AGC Burkina Faso Compliance and Gender Officer Eve Sanou, who is also an Engineer, Senior Supply Chain and Due Diligence Specialist, officially became the very first woman in Burkina Faso to be certified in the CRAFT Code.
If you’re unfamiliar with the CRAFT Code, it was created by RESOLVE and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). CRAFT stands for The Code of Risk-mitigation for Artisanal and small-scale mining engaging in Formal Trade.
It was a code developed specifically for the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector to develop a standard tool in the form of a certification system that enables ASM miners to access markets, financing, and technical support. It provides specific criteria for miners and works to fill gaps between miners and the markets they seek to reach.
AGC’s Development and Communications Manager Ryan Painter interviewed Eve to get her thoughts on why she pursued this field of study for her Masters, what it means to be the first woman in Burkina Faso to be CRAFT Code certified, and what can be learned from the implementation of the CRAFT Code.
Ryan Painter (RP): What made you decide to choose this topic for your Masters?
Even Sanou (ES): We have observed that two to three years after the Diarkadougou mining site adopted and applied the CRAFT code, there has been an increase in non-compliance with basic hygiene, health and safety rules in the practice of the trade. For this reason, the present research focuses on the following main question: “How can the application of the principles of the CRAFT code contribute effectively to the mitigation of occupational health and safety risks on the Diarkadougou artisanal mining site in Burkina Faso?
Indeed, occupational health and safety risk management is very important for an artisanal mining site such as Diarkadougou, which is monitored by the STAG project. Diarkadougou is one of STAG’s most important sites, with a very large population.
We made this choice, firstly, because we are one of the people following this mining site through the STAG project piloted by the Artisanal Gold Council, and secondly, it’s an innovative theme, as we are the first to take an interest in this subject in the ASGM sector in Burkina Faso. In addition, the Diarkadougou management committee needs to be able to put in place mechanisms that enable them to identify, assess and prioritize the risks associated with their production activities.
As a result of the STAG project, the mining community will have to take charge of its affairs, by methodically addressing the potential risks that could arise at the mine site, to be able to reduce them and control their probability and potential impact. For this reason, we wanted to give visibility to the technical means and tools deployed by the Diarkadougou mine site management committee to apply the principles of the CRAFT code, to serve as a springboard for more respectful practices aimed at improving the mining community’s occupational health and safety performance.
RP: Were the outcomes what you expected? Why or why not?
ES: The study assessed the level of occupational risk management at the Diarkadougou artisanal mining site. This will enable the Artisanal Gold Council to further build the capacity of the Diarkadougou mining community in occupational health and safety risk management. Emphasis will be placed on promoting best practices without the use of mercury in the gold processing process, but also through better dissemination of the occupational health and safety policy among site workers, by setting up appropriate mechanisms to effectively manage the occupational health and safety component, to encourage the wearing of PPE and safe working practices. It was also clear that the CRAFT code could be used as a springboard to encourage workers at the Diarkadougou site to adopt good occupational health and safety practices. In addition, recommendations were made to improve safety and the use of PPE to reduce the risk of exposure to workplace accidents and to raise the awareness of the Diarkadougou mining community of the potential risks to their health.
RP: How will you apply your findings to your ongoing efforts?
ES: We are going to maintain the project’s efforts on the Diarkadougou artisanal mining site because a considerable number of things have been achieved by the Artisanal Gold Council to improve the various practices within this mining community. Also, to follow up on the refinement of our research, we will continue to support the site management committee to maintain the momentum on preventive measures to eliminate or reduce the various risks and help preserve the health and safety of site workers. In addition, we have set up a WhatsApp group to keep up the momentum and encourage workers to adopt more responsible practices (wearing PPE, adopting mercury-free mineral processing methods, raising awareness of mercury-related illnesses, popularizing occupational health and safety policy, promoting safe working practices, etc.).
RP: How did AGC position you to successfully pursue this field of research?
ES: Artisanal Gold Council, through its country representative in Burkina Faso, gave us the time to devote to our research activities, while working on other projects of course, and also enabled us to carry out our research by making available to us the various reports on its projects in the country, in particular the activity reports on STAG in Diarkadougou and on planetGOLD. We also benefited from the support of the Executive Director from the head office in Canada to facilitate this research work.
RP: Are there limitations to using the CRAFT Code and if so, how can AGC enhance its application of the CRAFT Code to make it more robust?
ES: There are limits to the use of the CRAFT Code because not all countries have the same realities on the ground. Artisanal Gold Council could improve its application to make it more robust by adapting it more simplistically to the local context. AGC needs to support mining communities in applying the CRAFT code by enabling them to move progressively through the various principles of the code to achieve more satisfactory results. It makes sense to be more flexible in implementation and, above all, to maintain the efforts made in the name of sustainability.
RP: How will you, as the first woman in Burkina Faso certified in the CRAFT Code, utilize your certification to generate interest in more women to hone their expertise in the ASGM sector?
ES: As the only woman certified on the CRAFT code in Burkina Faso, this gives us the privilege of encouraging young female students to have an interest in entering the field through capacity building on the CRAFT Code and especially on its merits in ASGM. With the Burkina Faso Mining Women’s Association, which is already working with AGC, we’ll be looking at how to put this into practice.
RP: Why is it important for women to become engaged in this field of research?
ES: Women need to get involved in this field of research because they are the first to be affected, and it’s time for them to make a difference. Women must make their voices heard, and portray bad mining practices on ASGM sites. Indeed, they play an important role in the transition to responsible, mercury-free mining practices, because they are the first to be affected and the most vulnerable in the chain to the harmful effects of mercury. In the field, during our CRAFT code compliance assessments, we note that children are subject to the same hazards as their mothers, as they are exposed to crushing and grinding dust. Throughout the entire mineral extraction and washing process, they do not protect themselves. Moreover, women account for a marginal share of earnings, particularly in the concentrate processing and recovery circuit. Like the rest of the sector, almost all women miners work in the informal sector and have no access to the advantageous formal market. Women play a vital role in the operation of the ASGM value chain, just as they do within the family and the community. Today, women must fight to overcome these bad practices and benefit from better living and working conditions at ASGM sites in Burkina Faso.
RP: Do you have anything further to add?
ES: To add, today we have the challenge of equal access to knowledge and new responsible alternatives in artisanal and small-scale mining, the challenge of protecting the health of women and mothers, who are also vulnerable to the harmful effects of mercury, and the challenge of securing jobs for women in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector, given the emergence of new mineral extraction and processing technologies.