Read the statement from 2011 Alternative Mining Indaba and the final report from 2011 here.
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When more than 4000 delegates from more than 800 international mining companies and 40 governments get together to talk business at the Mining Indaba, Norwegian Church Aid and its partners Economic Justice Network (EJN) and Benchmarks Foundation bring in the human aspects of mining forth, by arranging the ‘Alternative Mining Indaba’. Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa, the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches, will officially open the 2011 Alternative Mining Indaba.
- The extractive industries sector has acquired notoriety for being non-transparent and unaccountable. Most problems in the extractive industries are often in developing countries where minerals and oil are being extracted in communities and the proceeds do not benefit these communities.
Small-scale miners are some of the victims of extractive industrie's exploitative acts. Photo: Greg Buick/NCA
The Archbishop will attend the Alternative Mining Indaba together with participants from Africa and Latin-America, and the venue is just few streets away from the official Mining Indaba which is held annually at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The Mining Indaba is the world’s largest gathering of mining decision-makers. The Alternative Indaba seeks to challenge mining Indaba by bringing the real life human aspects to the conference, to confront the injustice rampant in extractive industries.
Victims of mining
The problems with extractive industries are similar across Africa and other developing nations. Testimonies from members of affected communties across the whole continent shows that the mining industry brings unfulfilled promises, environmental degradation (soil, water contamination), threatens livelihoods, health hazards poor housing provided as alternative accommodation for displaced communities (hostels in South Africa), poor working conditions for the few who secure employment and negative effects on women, households and communities in general.
Large-scale mobilization
Such testimonies played an important role at the first ‘Alternative Mining Indaba’ arranged in 2010, which aimed to bring human life and dignity into the mining business. More than 50 people attended the one day event which attracted significant media attention. The 2011 event will be bigger and lasts for 3 days. Participants from Angola, Guatemala, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are expected to attend, and pressure for change in the mining sector.
The key objectives of the Alternative Mining Indaba are to:
- Provide an alternative space for stakeholders to discuss the equitable distribution of income from resource extraction
- Share information on the lessons, challenges and achievements of various stakeholders’ initiatives on promoting governance and transparency in the sector of extractive industries
- Hold to account mining companies and governments who trample on people’s rights, especially those of marginalised communities
- Address issues of gender within mining in Africa.
- Lobby for the formulation of policies, laws and regulations which protect communities against rapacious mining deals.