Posts Tagged: extractive industries

10th Annual March to Save Oak Flat

February 15-18, 2024 The Apache Stronghold organizes a run/march every February to gather community, neighbors, and allies in prayerful action to support the protection of the sacred lands of Oak Flat and beyond. Oak Flat is at risk of destruction by Resolution Copper, a United States subsidiary of the Australian mining companies BHP and Rio… Read more »

Abandoned Mining Pits Pose Risks to Families in Cameroon

The Joining Hands network in Cameroon RELUFA has produced a short documentary on the issue of abandoned mining pits in Eastern Cameroon. RELUFA is working to ensure that the mining code is being enforced and that mining companies are following through on their contractual obligations to safely close mining operations and reclaim lands that have… Read more »

Standing with Atahualpa

Addressing the Roots of the Climate Crisis By Jed Koball | Joining Hands Catalyst for Extractive industries, Human Rights, and the Environment Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all costs get gold! – King Ferdinand of Spain, 1511 First, they came for the gold. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador, stood face to face… Read more »

Peruvian policies fail to prioritize issue of heavy metals contamination

Advances and challenges in the struggle for comprehensive care for exposed communities By Milushka Rojas Mezarino | Coordinator of the Red Uniendo Manos Peru *This article is an abridged version, the original version published in Spanish can be found on the Red Uniendo Manos Peru’s blog Peru is characterized as a country that is purely… Read more »

Risks to Fisheries and Land Resources in Coastal Communities in Cameroon

The Nlende Dibè and Eboundja I villages are both found in the Ocean Division, South Region, Cameroon. Their inhabitants mainly rely on fishing and agriculture for food security and income. Unfortunately, these coastal communities face increasing pressure on the land and its resources, and are exposed to risks affecting their access to both fisheries and… Read more »

The Pitfalls of Mining in Cameroon

By Josephine Maidjane, Guy Le Brun and Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA, Cameroon The East Region of Cameroon has attracted local artisanal miners for decades in search of gold and diamonds, working with rudimentary tools. And since 2016, semi-mechanized mining companies, primarily from Asia and South Africa have started to flock to the zone. Semi-mechanized mining… Read more »

Corruption Challenges Continue Despite New Mining Code in DR Congo

By Elie Kadima | POM, Democratic Republic of Congo After twelve years of implementing the 2002 Mining Code in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the problem of community poverty in mining zones had not been resolved. This was due to the absence of provisions in the code to boost community development. POM (Platform of Civil… Read more »

Major Victory Against Mining Toxins in Peru

By Jed Koball | Mission Co-worker, Peru Inside the government palace, sitting at the opposite end of the conference table from Prime Minister Mirtha Vasquez, Yolanda Zurita, representing communities affected by toxic metal poisoning in Peru, posed the question, ‘Why not ease our suffering by implementing our dream – a comprehensive and integrated health care… Read more »

Systemic change with a big pay off

Advocacy to change the mining code in the DRC leads to community development By Valery Nodem | Presbyterian Hunger Program Despite being one of the world’s richest countries in natural resources, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is among the world’s poorest countries. This contradiction, fueled by endemic corruption and a dysfunctional public administration, can feel… Read more »

The Eyesores that Give us Sight

Sojourning with Joining Hands towards Global Solidarity By Jed Koball | Mission Co-worker Peru In a shanty town on the edge of Manila, families gathered their belongings as bulldozers waited on the fringes ready to raze their homes. Preparing to receive world leaders for a gathering of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the government of… Read more »