UNDP donates $ 200,000 to five CSOs to promote sustainable small-scale mining

General News of Saturday, February 9, 2019

Source: 3news.com

2019-02-09

UNDP has provided a grant of $ 200,000 to five civil society organizations (CSOs) for the implementation of various projects to eliminate mercury in gold mining and promote artisbad and small-scale mining. sustainable craft in Ghana.

These are the Advocacy Tuning Point, the Moaduri Women's Development Projects, the Ghana Institute of Sustainable Development, the Zintang Association of Healers and the Firm Health Ghana Foundation.

Louis Kuukpen, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ghana, underscored their commitment to help Ghana formalize the artisbad and small-scale mining sector.

This, he said, will be through training, technology transfer and knowledge management to promote mercury-free mining in the artisbad and small-scale mining sector.

Mr. Kuukpen added that UNDP, through the Global Environment Facility's Small Grants Program, was experimenting with the Zero Mercury program to support the Government's new strategic framework for regulating and reforming mining activities in the region. the country.

He urged beneficiary civil society organizations to collaborate with government institutions to carry out their projects, for increased impact.

"We congratulate the new recipients and are confident that they will work closely with the Interdepartmental Committee on Small-Scale Mining, the Minerals Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Assemblies of Mining." competent districts to ensure synergies and linkages between national programs and our projects. ", Said Mr Kuukpen.

Speaking on behalf of the winners, Turning Point of Advocacy's Executive Director, Ms. Naa Dedei Tagoe, expressed her gratitude to UNDP and GEF for this opportunity and promised to make the grants available to the company.

"We will use resources wisely to improve the sector in which miners will work sustainably, and the government will not be forced to ban small-scale mining," she said.

Dr George Ortsin, National Program Coordinator, said the grant competition was very lively this year as more than 65 nominations were received.

The selected projects were based on innovative ideas and technologies that would be introduced in accordance with national priorities and geographical importance.

The GEF Small Grants Program for UNDP has provided financial support to local communities to invest in environmental management over the last four years. To date, 33 community organizations in coastal ecosystems and northern savannahs have received a grant of $ 2.61 million.

The program has also strengthened the capacity of more than 1,500 community members to integrate biodiversity conservation into natural resource management, which has had a positive impact on the conservation of environmental resources in the country.

The next small UNDP / GEF grants will be awarded in July this year to help more local governments invest in environmental management.

The intervention aims to help the country implement the Minamata Convention, ratified by Ghana on March 3, 2017, to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury compounds. .