Peruvian Government and Solidaridad sign agreement to strengthen national policy for small-scale and artisanal mining

The Ministry of Energy and Mines, through its General Directorate for Mining Formalization, is developing a national policy to address the operational, economic and socio-environmental challenges faced in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector. 

The alliance between the Ministry and Solidaridad aims to provide a comprehensive approach in the design and implementation of this policy, by creating synergies between the two organizations. While the Ministry designs, establishes and supervises national and sectoral policies, Solidaridad, through its mining programme, has been paving paths to accelerate the uptake of responsible gold production in order to improve the living conditions of the ASM miners and communities that depend directly or indirectly on it.

Within the signed cooperation agreement, Solidaridad will support the Ministry by:

• Sharing its track record related to the development and the design of policies for ASM in Peru. 
• Running joint studies needed to build the policy.

Also, as an international organization with presence in multiple countries, Solidaridad will provide information on international technical discussions regarding occupational safety and health, gender inclusion, clean technologies, decent work and more, to enrich the content and process of elaboration of the Policy. Along the same lines, it will articulate with national and international organizations that are interested in assisting in the development of the Policy.

This agreement was signed within Solidaridad’s global programme RECLAIM Sustainability!, with the support of the Dutch government, to foster genuine and inclusive sustainability in global value chains, where the voices of farmers, miners, workers and citizens are well represented in decision-making, and civil society is strengthened.