EITI Board Meeting in Toronto Sees DRC Push for Sustainable, Inclusive Mineral Supply Chains in Artisanal Mining

The Democratic Republic of Congo took part, from February 29 to March 1, 2024, in the work of the Board of Directors of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) held in Toronto, Canada.

Placed under the theme “Disclosures on artisanal and small-scale mining in an informal world”, these meetings benefited from the contribution of the EITI-DRC, whose national coordinator, Jean-Jacques Kayembe, spoke , according to the ACP, for “support for sustainable and inclusive mineral supply chains”. 

The national coordinator of the EITI-DRC was not alone in this work, he was accompanied by Ms. Marylou Djuma, expert in charge of communication, PR & Event.

With funding from Belgium, the DRC Multi-Stakeholder Group has recommended a report to make comprehensive data available on the contribution of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in the country. The report provides a map of the different actors involved in artisanal mining sites, a map of financial flows as well as statistics on production, exports and employment. 

The EITI-DRC National Coordinator took this opportunity to share the DRC’s experience with transparency in the mining sector, particularly with regard to artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). He noted the efforts of the Congolese government to improve governance of the ASM sector, in particular through the implementation of the EITI Standard. The participation of the DRC in this Board of Directors is a perfect opportunity to strengthen collaboration with other EITI member countries and share best practices in terms of transparency in the extractive industries. The Democratic Republic of Congo was admitted to the Board of Directors of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative at the EITI Global Conference held in Dakar, Senegal, in June 2023.  

The EITI is a global standard that promotes transparency and accountability in the management of natural resources of which the DRC has been a member since 2007. It was declared a compliant country with the EITI Standard in 2014. The EITI is committed to support efforts to make the ASM sector more transparent, sustainable and inclusive.