The project has begun delivering awareness raising and training for workers on fundamental labour rights and health and safety in mining. It is focusing on Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in view of the need to prevent and remedy human and environmental rights violations in the mining sectors of these countries. We are working with our local monitoring partners, Centro de Investigación y Servicio Popular (CISEP) and Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW).

Based on the findings of our investigations and training, Electronics Watch is supporting workers and local partners to establish a dialogue with companies throughout the subcontracting chain both locally and globally. We are building the capacity of the public buyers to communicate and set the requirements for responsible produced minerals especially in their low-emission vehicle supply chains. We are supporting public buyers by developing innovative tools for public tenders that incentivize effective due diligence in mineral supply chains.

Based on Electronics Watch’s past experience in the DRC (see our article Cobalt Mine Investigation Reveals Extensive Worker Rights Violations) and in the Philippines (see our report Human Rights and Environmental Impact of Nickel Mining at Rio Tuba), the project is targeting artisanal and small-scale mines and cooperative mines as well as large-scale mines of cobalt and tin, two minerals for which there is a rapidly growing global demand, notably in the electronics and automotive industries. The project is supporting the promotion of a due diligence system under the EU Regulation on Conflict Minerals and the OECD due diligence model and contribute to Electronics Watch's Low Emission Vehicle programme targets. The project will thus have a significant multiplier effect that will benefit miners in other production sites around the world.

This project, which will be completed in 2025, is being carried out with the financial support of the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM).

For more information, please contact: Fabrice Warneck.

This article represents only the views of Electronics Watch, and donors are not responsible for its content.