By Natalie Africa, IFC Gender Program
Ahafo, Ghana
Newmont Ghana participates in the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Gender Program, which helps mining companies better integrate women into their operations. In so doing, the IFC has contributed to Newmont's sustainability objectives and improved performance through greater gender diversity.
The business case
There is a growing business case for hiring women, as there is a strong correlation between gender diversity and high financial and organizational performance. For example, some mining companies discovered that hiring women in nontraditional occupations such as mining truck operators optimizes efficiency, because safety risks, accidents and maintenance costs are reduced.
Additionally, women's entrepreneurial and productive skills are being leveraged through the IFC's Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Linkage program, thereby broadening competition, innovation and skills among local suppliers.
Developing a strategy
Having worked with IFC in rural communities in other regions, and influenced by its own corporate guidelines on diversity and inclusion, Newmont Ghana understood that a gender-inclusive strategy could pay dividends at its Ahafo operation.
As a new mine, one of the operation's priorities was to ensure stakeholder buy-in and recognition of its new role in the community. The resettlement process had a severe impact on women in the mining districts, as 68 percent of households classified as "vulnerable" were female-headed. Yet, the consultative bodies set up to manage compensation and community decision-making had hardly any female representatives who could represent women's needs.
Recruitment begins
Newmont Ghana's gender specialist successfully went about getting more women representatives on these bodies, setting up a 75-member Women's Consultative Committee (WCC) comprised of a cross-section of women.
Because women are not always vocal in public gatherings with men, the WCC meets regularly with mine representatives to receive and discuss issues relating to environmental management, new infrastructure, educational, economic and training opportunities, and women's involvement in the local community forum. Following each meeting, committee members organize district meetings with larger groups of women to take forth the information and solicit feedback.
In just two years, the WCC successfully drove consultation and the creation of various capacity-building activities for its members and other women in the community.
Hiring increases
Newmont Ghana also targeted women to recruit and train for mining positions. Consequently, 18 percent of Ahafo's haul truck drivers are women, many of whom are experiencing formal regular employment for the first time. The company actively encouraged traditional authorities to include women in the recruitment drive.
Creating entrepreneurs
Through Newmont Ghana's Community and SME Linkage Programs, members of the WCC are being trained in entrepreneurship and on how to run the microfinance revolving fund that they set up in response to their identified need for business credit. A baseline study identified 20 percent of registered local SMEs as being women-owned, which are now linked to the mine's procurement department.
Efforts paying off
When some men in the Ahafo communities queried the seemingly "special" focus on women, Newmont Ghana decided, with IFC support, to design and implement gender sensitization exercises using community drama and training techniques. Although most men and community chiefs have supported the work of the WCC - with some even providing venues for WCC meetings - gender-related projects need the consistent buy-in of both men and women to gain broad support and avoid any potential backlash.
December 1, 2009
