Since 2011, the PPA has directly funded innovative grants and activities in support of our objectives. To learn more, please see below:
Learn more about PPA Requests for Proposals and Abstracts here.
The PPA has awarded a grant to IMPACT, in partnership with Synergy, to research models for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) governance structures (e.g., cooperatives), including those which have successfully addressed or avoided issues of elite capture and inequities (including gender-related) that are often perpetuated within these structures in DRC. Artisanal miners are legally required to organize into cooperatives within the context of DRC law, and in line with national government formalization policies. The cooperative structure has proved effective in other sectors and geographies to help alleviate poverty and enable economic growth, and promote other positive socioeconomic impacts for local producers and their communities. However, DRC artisanal mining cooperatives are often “cooperatives in name only.” Many are controlled by “elites” who disproportionally benefit from the cooperative’s activities. Women and Indigenous peoples are often excluded from management structures. This can result in outcomes such as the lack of equitable distribution of financial profits, opportunities, and other benefits. In addition to these inequities, DRC cooperatives face unique challenges specific to the DRC context and its legal/regulatory framework.
IMPACT and Synergy will conduct a scoping assessment to draw from existing tools and solutions to inform a proposed research and action agenda for more inclusive and effective ASM governance structures in the DRC. Their research will include desk-based research, draw from lessons in other contexts where the grantees operate, and leverage interviews with diverse stakeholders and partners to “ground-truth” findings.
The team will also develop a series of recommendations that policymakers, civil society, and business can take to address these challenges, including recommendations for how the PPA can advance awareness and implementation of potential solutions.
Panzi Foundation is using the funds to implement a project in Katagota and Kaziba on expanding children’s educational access and socio-economic opportunities for their families and vulnerable women (including survivors of sexual and gender-based violence). City of Joy and V-World Farm are receiving program support for their work on women’s leadership and reintegration into communities following sexual violence.
Commissioned Research
This research from Sofala Partners and BetterChain explored the potential roles of financial institutions in promoting responsible minerals trade from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRAs).
Reports
Piloting Financial Services and Developing ASM Tools
Subsequent to this research, the PPA contracted with Trust Merchant Bank (TMB, one of the largest commercial banks operating in DRC) to conduct a pilot to expand the ability of legitimate actors in the ASM sector to access legal finance. TMB's work launched in October 2020. TMB is piloting provision of a range of financial services to ASM mining enterprises using their mobile banking service, and developing ASM sector-specific tools in the areas of compliance and credit risk management in order to support scalable, ASM-targeted banking solutions.
In June 2017, the PPA supported the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations in the Great Lakes Region (COSOC-GL) in its efforts to build awareness of the importance of demilitarization of mine sites in critical sectors of South Kivu – one of DRC’s most conflict-affected provinces. The project has two main objectives and areas of activity:
In support of these objectives, COSOC’s work included direct workshops and a radio campaign targeting members of the , civil society, and citizens in critical sectors of South Kivu – one of DRC’s most conflict-affected provinces.
IPIS maps security dynamics (e.g., artisanal mining presence, mine sites, presence of armed groups) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and the Central African Republic. IPIS also works to build capacity of local government and civil society.
The PPA supported project by IPIS that sought to enhance and facilitate transparency in the DRC artisanal gold sector by engaging with local civil society in systemized data collection on production and trade. The project further aimed to deepen civil society’s understanding of the dynamics and needs of the whole supply chain, and to build technical and analytical capacity for data collection, management, and report writing.
IMPACT (then Partnership Africa Canada, or PAC), in partnership with the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) began work on their partially PPA-funded project in fall of 2012 and completed work in early 2014. This project attempted to create the first traceable conflict-free mineral chain for artisanal gold from the Orientale province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
To support responsible sourcing and economic development in the DRC while addressing downstream concerns about due diligence and traceability, industry partners launched three "closed-pipe" (meaning they identified all supply chain participants in advance) sourcing initiatives - a Solutions for Hope tantalum pilot in July 2011, a KEMET tantalum pilot in October 2011, and the Conflict Free Tin Initiative pilot in October 2012. Anecdotally, the initiatives have improved local employment, tantalum and tin prices for tagged material and therefore income, cash flow, income opportunities for women, working conditions, and security. There have also been reported challenges.
As these are important examples of the value in downstream engagement in sourcing from DRC and GLR, and as the projects had been in place for one or more years (as of late 2014), the PPA commissioned an independent assessment of the social and economic impacts and performance of the three programs. Estelle Levin Ltd. was selected to conduct the research and assess the projects against their stated goals, as well as more generally. This assessment highlights benefits, challenges, and other lessons from CFTI, KEMET, and SfH and their application to broader sourcing and due diligence considerations for civil society, government, and companies engaged in the tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold supply chains.
Among its many findings, the assessment concluded that these programs:
These findings are discussed in more detail in the following materials:
This project supported civil society initiatives for monitoring transparency, appropriation of the early warning mechanism and the accountability of the mining sector in South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Webinars
Save Act Mine received a PPA grant in mid-2015 to operate a telephone hotline to receive and verify reports of smuggling and fraud in tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold mines and supply chains, and to develop a graphic manual to educate upstream actors on the importance of due diligence.
Graphic Manual on Due Diligence:
French|Swahili|Lingala
Save Act Mine presentation on project and related programs (French Only)
First Interim Report (Aug - December 2015)
Française |English
Request for Abstracts
The PPA recently distributed a request for abstracts as part of a planning process to convene a Data for Impact Symposium in Spring 2022. The Symposium will profile existing tools, methodologies, models, indicators, systems, and other approaches that could provide a basis for a sustainable, just framework to build data sets and analysis and inform future action for improved socioeconomic outcomes and local benefits.
The PPA is composed of companies and governments who make substantial investments in responsible minerals sourcing, and NGOs who utilize and input into due diligence and other data systems. The Symposium will be attended by PPA members as well as selected invitees – other donors, investors, and potential users of the tools, methodologies, and approaches to be presented. The PPA is committed to helping to facilitate connections between promising tools/models/ and prospective users and investors.
The Symposium will be held virtually.
The deadline to submit an abstract closed on January 7, 2022.
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