AIMES calls for Strengthening of Advocacy on the African Mining Vision

The 13th Annual Meeting of the African Initiative on Mining, Environment and Societies (AIMES) held in Harare Zimbabwe on 21-24 June, 2011 called for the African Union Commission and the Economic Commission for Africa to strengthen advocacy around the promotion of the African Mining Vision (AMV). The sub regional for West Africa (SRO-WA) represented the Economic Commission for Africa at the AIMES meeting at the invitation of the meeting organisers. The Annual meeting, which brought together Civil Society and Community representatives from 15 African countries, SADC, government officials and parliamentarians and other international actors, deliberated on challenges facing the minerals sector and focused specifically on the failure of the sector to contribute to sustainable development and also the failure of mining companies to adequately address the adverse impacts of mining on communities.

The SRO-WA presented three papers on: The African Mining Vision, Mineral Policy Harmonisation in ECOWAS and on Further Mineral Processing Resource mobilization strategies for African economies. Following presentations by experts on climate change, the meeting also concretised on strategies to be adopted for the upcoming Durban Meeting and Rio+20 and emphasized the importance of a common advocacy strategy. One of the key recommendations from the meeting was on the need to strengthen the entry channels for CSOs into the African Union and ECA formal procedures so as to ensure that AIMES keeps abreast with developments and contributes effectively to policy with one voice. The importance of the development state in championing Africa’s development was emphasized.

While noting its own capacity challenges on the analysis of technical issues in the sector, AIMES reaffirmed the importance of continuing to dialogue with experts in order to build the capacity of its members. On the African Mining Vision, AIMES recommended that the International Study Group’s Framework Report should deepen the discussion on mining and climate change given that the sector is highly energy intensive. Further, AIMES challenged the AUC to invest more resources into the popularization of the vision in light of other initiatives, including those being promoted by the World Bank, which may derail the Vision’s aspirations. AIMES committed to strengthen national level work to ensure the recommendations of the AMV and the Framework Report are implemented at local level.