The most recent tragedy occurred between June 13 and 14, when nine artisanal miners perished in a landslide. Earlier, on April 16, a similar incident claimed the lives of eight miners.

The general manager of the CMKK cooperative stated that these victims were illegal operators. The cooperative, initially hosting 2,000 miners, now struggles with an influx of up to 5,000 individuals, many of whom are unauthorized and enter the mine at night, disregarding barriers set by the public service of SAEMAPE (the DRC government body which monitors artisanal and small scale mining operations).

Do public and private stakeholders adopt the necessary means for risk prevention? Who should be made accountable for the accidents? What is the role of global supply chain actors to support improvement of working conditions?

For a deeper understanding of these issues and potential solutions, join our webinar on Thursday, 12th September 2024, from 11:00-12:00 CEST. This event will present the mid-term monitoring findings on artisanal and industrial mining in Kolwezi. Our partners, SARW and Centre d'Aide Juridico-Judiciaire (CAJJ), will share their latest research and explore sustainable solutions to improve mining conditions.

Electronics Watch is working in DRC with SARW, with financial support from EPRM and Barcelona City Council. Our objective is to raise awareness among those business operators involved in the subcontracting chain of cobalt and copper and of public authorities on the urgent need to promote health and safety at work and the professionalisation of extraction operations as part of their due diligence accountability.

Electronics Watch is grateful to EPRM and Barcelona City Council for their support of this project.

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