ICMM - International Council on Mining & Metals

NEWS

20.02.08
Broad representation at ICMM's Resource Endowment initiative workshop in Ghana

Well over the number of confirmed attendees gathered in Accra on 18 February in an event that was jointly hosted by the Government of Ghana and ICMM, and supported by the Ghana Chamber of Mines. The purpose of the partnership action learning workshop was to obtain feedback from participants on which goals they see are priorities in Ghana for partnership development, to present ongoing multi-stakeholder initiatives in Ghana and to develop action plans around some priority partnerships to enhance further the benefits to local communities and to society, from mining.

Attendees, who numbered over 80, said it was surprising and encouraging to find such a wide variety of stakeholders sharing the event. Participants included senior government representatives - from the ministries of health, mining, treasury-, top-level mining company executives, and a broad cross-section of civil society, from district representatives (including four paramount chiefs), NGOs and environment agencies, to academics. Participants manifested the view that this was the first time they attended an event with such a broad base of involvement.

Added to the scale and breadth of participation was its quality: the level of engagement was high, making for truly productive discussion. ICMM's Kathryn McPhail described the engagement as "absolutely fantastic".

The bringing together of stakeholders marks the limit of ICMM involvement in country-specific issues, and highlights the existing appetite for a multi-stakeholder group championed by the Ghana Chamber of Mines to take discussions forward. In this context, ICMM suggested convening a new workshop in one year's time, and Tarkwa University (whose Vice-Chancellor chaired a session) has offered to host it. This is a clear indication of the resolve that exists among the various stakeholders to come together to discuss relevant issues, and is taken as an encouraging sign of possible outcomes to follow.