CSR-in-Action to Raise $.5m for Female Artisanal Miners

Following the premiere of its acclaimed documentary, ‘Earth Women’, CSR-in-Action has aimed to raise $500,000 for Nigerian female artisanal miners.

Veteran thespian and co-executive producer of the film, Ego Boyo, announced this after Earth Women’s screening. Access Bank sponsored the grand premiere.

She further called on the public to visit the Sustainability in the Extractive Industries (SITEI) Initiative website to sign up for the gender mainstreaming recommendations and contribute to the $500,000 fund raised for an access-to-market platform, especially for local female miners.

The themes of social justice and gender inclusion dominated discussions at the premiere of ‘Earth Women’, an initiative of CSR-in-Action Advocacy, the development-focused arm of the CSR-in-Action Group, primarily funded by the Ford Foundation.

“When natural disasters occur, women suffer immensely because their sources of livelihood are threatened, and they often do not have control over what happens to them in such situations,” said Bekeme Masade-Olowola, CSR-in-Action’s chief executive and producer of ‘Earth Women’. “Nevertheless, women continue to thrive and find better ways to survive. But we want to use these powerful visuals to change that narrative.”

Funke Baruwa, Country Director, West Africa for Ford Foundation, noted that “wherever you find benefits in the form of natural resources, you find women and girls unfairly excluded from conversations around these resources.”

According to her, women continue to be marginalised in formal and informal spaces. However, she expressed delight that women “continue to challenge this marginalisation” to ensure “that our voices are heard.”

Baruwa added, “We are supporting organisations like CSR-in-Action because we believe that supporting them will help in identifying gaps and driving programs and strategies that address challenges that women face in the extractive sector.”

The ‘SITEI-Woman’ project is a series of initiatives targeted at empowering women, especially those impacted by the extractive industries in Nigeria.

It is an offshoot of the 10-year-old SITEI to foster fiscal and social justice for communities with oil and gas and mining resources.

Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, commended the commitment of Masade-Olowola and her team to finding sustainable solutions to the challenges facing the extractive industries sector in Nigeria.

“Through SITEI-Woman, we want to help deconstruct some of the paradigms that have kept women away from vital decisions that have an overarching impact on their lives, especially with regards to resources available in extractive communities,” stated Meka Olowola, co-executive producer of the documentary.