The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) has added its voice to an appeal issued by over 70 civil society organisations calling for immediate and concerted action from governments, financing institutions, international organizations, private sector actors and others to support artisanal mining communities linked to different industrial sectors, and to shore up their resilience in this time of corona virus crisis.

In a joint statement highlighted on the RJC website, these organisations have said, “As the corona virus sweeps the globe, affecting the health and lives of millions, the pandemic is wreaking further economic havoc on the lives of artisanal, small scale miners and their communities.”

It is estimated that around 83 per cent of the world’s mining workforce or roughly 40.5 million people rely on such mining for their livelihood, of which nearly 30% are women and an estimated one million are children. Over 150 million people are dependent on the artisanal and small-scale gold sector alone in over 80 countries.

The signatories say that not only is emergency support necessary, but protecting the hard-won gains related to human rights and due diligence in mineral supply chains in alignment with the OECD Due Diligence Minerals Guidance, has become more important than ever.

Emphasising that artisanal miners extract, pre-process and trade in high-value commodities that are used in everyday consumer goods and also extract and process lower-value minerals (so-called ‘development minerals’), which serve as essential materials for the construction of houses, roads and other infrastructure, propelling economic growth and development at the local level, the organisations have called for supply chain due diligence from mine to market and investment in the structures and incentives for responsible production, trade and consumption.

A safe and responsible artisanal mining sector can be a vector for development and rapid post-COVID economic recovery for millions of women and men. Were it well supported now, it could not only contribute to short term recovery from the impacts of COVID-19, but also function as an important bulwark against illicit trade, poor land management, ecosystem degradation, habitat loss and even wildlife trade, and so prevent disease transmission in addition to countering the effects of climate change, the civil society and community organisations state as they appeal for both emergency measures a well as other recommended actions that will help uplift the sector over the longer term.