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MESSAGE FROM THE PROGRAMME MANAGER
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 Welcome to the first newsletter of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme!
We have a great deal to share with you and we hope that this will be the start of a conversation about how we can work together. From toothpaste to paints, and buildings to plates, the mining of industrial minerals, construction materials, dimension stones and semi-precious stones are intrinsic to everyday life. But despite their potential to impact the livelihoods of millions of people, both positively and negatively, these minerals have been neglected in development debates. The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme will support knowledge exchange across Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific. We welcome you to get involved.
Sincerely,
Daniel Franks
Programme Manager
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Watch our introductory video.
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ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme is a 3-year, €13.1 million capacity building program that aims to build the profile, and improve the management, of Neglected Development Minerals. The program is an initiative of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, financed by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and implemented by UNDP. The aim is to: 1) increase the sector’s productivity; 2) better manage mining operations; 3) adhere to national and international environmental and health standards; and 4) prevent conflict through effective community relations. Implemented at both the regional and country levels the programme includes: training; small grants; the production of maps and databases; review of legislation and policy; organization of community dialogues, technology fairs and networking events.
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APPLY FOR UPCOMING TRAINING
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Regional Training Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety, Georgetown, Guyana, 18-21 April, 2016.
The mining of Neglected Development Minerals can have significant social and environmental impacts with consequences for the health and safety of workers and surrounding communities. The Programme is partnering with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of Guyana to hold a 4-day regional training workshop for participants from Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago. Applications due: 7 March 2016. Download the application form: English / French
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Regional Training Workshop on Quarry Management, Carrara, Italy, 15-20 June, 2016
The Programme will sponsor twenty quarry managers, public sector officials and quarry association representatives to attend the ‘Stone Sector and Changing Trends’ Conference in Carrara Italy, as well as pre- and post- conference training on quarry management of dimension stones and construction materials. Nationals from any of the forty participating countries of the Programme within the ACP Group of States are eligible to apply. Applications due: 18 March 2016. Download the application form: English / French |
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Training participants from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu during the field trip of the Regional Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety, Suva, 1-4 December, 2015. The workshop was opened by Honourable Mereseni Vuniqawa, Fiji Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources. The field trip included a visit to Colo-i-Suva Rainforest Eco Resort, a purpose-built ecotourism resort, which was formerly a quarry that supplied to the regional construction industry.
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I SAY 'NEGLECTED', YOU SAY 'LOW VALUE'
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Industrial minerals, construction materials, dimension stones, and semi-precious stones are sometimes referred to as Low Value Minerals and Materials (LVMM) due to their low price as a function of their weight, and their relatively low value to international commodity markets. Despite the connotation as ‘low value’ these minerals and materials provide crucial inputs for domestic economic development (infrastructure, manufacturing, construction and agriculture to name a few) and have the potential to be high value in terms of broad-based national development.
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To reset the debate and shed the pejorative connotations associated with ‘low value’ commodities, the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme uses the term Neglected Development Minerals. Each and every mineral or material has unique links to economic, social and human development. Neglect in the development and the oversight of these minerals and materials is a lost opportunity for domestic development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and will perpetuate the environmental, social, and economic challenges of the sector.
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THE AUC SPEARHEADS THE AFRICA LAUNCH OF THE PROGRAMME
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After the inception meeting in Brussels in July 2015, the widely anticipated launch of the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme in Africa took place on 9-12 November 2015 in Addis Ababa. The four-day event was kicked off with an opening ceremony that was hosted by the African Union Commission and African Minerals Development Centre and launched by representatives from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the European Commission, UNDP, and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In her key note address delivered on behalf of the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
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H.E Mrs Fatima Haram Acyl, Commissioner of Trade and Industry, pushed for the implementation of the African Mining Vision to help the continent harness its resources including those derived from Neglected Development Minerals. After the opening ceremony the participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia attended the Regional Training Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety which included a field visit to three quarry sites in Debre Zeit, a village approximately 45 km south of Addis Ababa, that are supplying scoria and ash for the booming construction sector.
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EMERGING LEADERS IN AFRICAN MINING 2016
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The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme sponsored 8 participants from six countries to attend the Emerging Leaders in African Mining (ELAM) 2016 workshop that took place in Cape Town, South Africa on 1-12 February 2016. This event was run in conjunction with the Mining Indaba 2016. The workshop which is now in its third year of operation was a joint collaboration between the Minerals and Energy for Development Alliance, AMDC and ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme.
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The event brought together 28 key stakeholders in the minerals and materials sector was an opportunity for the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme, through its sponsored participants, to raise awareness about the Neglected Development Minerals sector all the while developing critical understanding and skills in leadership.
Our Programme Specialist, Caroline Ngonze was there to support the sponsored participants and introduce the Programme (see photograph above).
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GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
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UN Women East and Southern Africa in partnership with the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme and other key partners hosted the Regional Sharefair on Gender Equality in the Extractives Industries in Nairobi on 13-15 October 2015. The event welcomed approximately 500 delegates representing governments, small-scale miners and their associations, civil society organisations and the private sector.
Research shows that more than 40% of small-scale miners in Africa are women. This calls for a review of current policies that impede women’s active engagement in the extractives sector.
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Formalization of ASM, provision of extension services and linkages, will ensure women’s equitable benefits from the sector.
To support this initiative and keep in line with our aim of promoting gender equality in the Neglected Development Minerals sector, the programme supported 12 women small-scale miners to attend the event so that they could benefit from the south-to-south knowledge exchange.
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STRENGTHENING THE AVAILABILITY OF GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION IN AFRICA
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The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme sponsored 14 participants to attend the 4th Geoscience Information in Africa (GIRAF) Workshop in Maputo, Mozambique from 6-9 October 2015. GIRAF is a pan-African geoscience information knowledge network of geological surveys, universities, civil society and companies.
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During the workshop, two sessions were held on Neglected Development Minerals creating a lively discussion and prompting Geological Surveys in Africa to start considering the sector more closely.
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SPOTLIGHT ON RETURN TO WORK: ZAMBIA
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Return to Work Plans are an important feature of our training workshops. The Zambian contingent of the Regional Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety held in Addis Ababa designed a collective plan to review the geological information on Neglected Development Minerals available nationwide with a particular focus on the Lusaka region. The minerals identified include quartz, mica, sand and clay, talc, limestone, dolomite, slates, sandstone and granite among others.
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The team has carried out a number of visits to different mining sites (see photograph below) and made observations of the mining life cycle, the value chain, environmental issues as well as community health and gender relations.
In addition to the observations, team members have been communicating with miners to gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing their mining operations.
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Local clay miner and brickmaker (left) explains to Mary Audrey Mtonga the process involved from the mine to the brick kiln.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
> Regional Training Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety Accra, Ghana, 15-18 March, 2016
Applications are now closed for this workshop held in partnership with the Ghana Minerals Commission, African Union, African Minerals Development Centre, and Economic Commission of West African States. The Programme is sponsoring participants from: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
> Regional Training Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety, Georgetown, Guyana, 18-21 April, 2016.
Applications now open to participants from Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago. Download the application form: English / French
> Regional Training Workshop on Quarry Management, Carrara, Italy, 15-20 June, 2016
Applications now open to quarry managers, public sector officials and quarry association representatives to attend training in the epicenter of Italy's marble industry. Download the application form: English / French
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PAST EVENTS
> Emerging Leaders in African Mining Cape Town, South Africa, 1-12 February, 2016.
Held in partnership with the Mining and Energy for Development Alliance and the African Minerals Development Centre.
> Regional Training Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety Suva, Fiji, 1-4 December, 2015
Open to Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. Held in partnership with the Government of Fiji and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
> Regional Training Workshop on Environment, Community, Health and Safety Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 9-12 November, 2015
Open to Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda. Held in partnership with the Africa Union and the African Minerals Development Centre.
> Regional Sharefair on Gender Equality in the Extractives Industries: Building on Good Practices Nairobi, Kenya, 13-15 October, 2015
> GIRAF Workshop 2015 Maputo, Mozambique, 6-9 October, 2015
> Inception workshop: Stones for Development Brussels, Belgium, 15-16 July, 2015.
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WITH METAL PRICES DOWN, WHICH MINERALS WILL PAVE AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT?
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Plunging metal prices have put a group of lesser known ‘Neglected Development Minerals’ into the spotlight.
Read Daniel Franks’ blog for UNDP AFRICA.
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The ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme is looking to broaden our network and expert base in the African, Caribbean and Pacific region. We want to hear from you if you have expertise working on industrial minerals, construction
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materials, dimensions stones and semi-precious stones in the thematic areas of the programme, or if you are involved in development support to the sector. Write to us at:
development.minerals@undp.org
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Copyright © 2016, UNDP, All rights reserved.
Newsletter #1:2016
development.minerals@undp.org
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