Women Mining Group entrusts Kogi with gender-related issues

She stated that this research validation and policy dialogue is part of WIMIN’s program to protect the rights of women and children in the mining sector in Nigeria, supported by the Open Society Foundation (OSF) and in partnership with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) .

“We have mapped three states for this critical program and Kogi State has been included on the list for its credit. Women in Mining will continue to promote the inclusion of all, even in the emerging transformational developments such as energy transformation, digitization, artificial intelligence, etc.

She assured the participants that the struggle for gender equality in the mining sector is no longer the struggle of women.

Her words: “The world has taken over the struggle and many countries have made sure their policies reflect gender as no one wants to reckon with a society that has at least no respect or concern for its women and children. I believe that no one wants to be bound or swept along by culture or sentiment on this global journey of progress, and that is the attitude I expect from the policy dialogue we will have in this programme.

She noted that the role of women in the mining sector in Kogi State cannot be downplayed or discounted, adding that their hard work in the mines yields an immeasurable amount of minerals that are used to power multinational industries based in Kogi State, to serve.

“But why can’t these women grow in the sector, what barriers hinder their promotions and upscaling? Are these barriers to competence or barriers of gender? Who is responsible for the deaths of female miners in Kogi State who occasionally die on trucks? What safeguards has Kogi, the state mining industry, developed to ensure the safety of our women on mining sites?

“What policies and implementation plans will be most effective in curbing the threat of child labor in Kogi State’s mining sector? These are candid conversations we want to have tomorrow in the course of our policy dialogue with stakeholders. The policy dialogue is a follow-up to the Research Validation that is being held today.