WIMTI February Class to Hold Thursday 16th
Keeping to its monthly tradition of educating and sensitising operators and enthusiasts in the solid mineral sectors, the Women in Mining Training Institute (WIMTI) has announced February 16th 2023 as the date for this month’s class. The class, which will be held virtually from 4pm to 6pm (WAT), will discuss issues around child labour in the sector and how to address them.
According to Deloraine Dennis, Programme Coordinator of Women in Mining Nigeria, “WIMTI offers participants the requisite knowledge they need to thrive in the sector, while also focusing on the social issues affecting it. This month’s class will look at the troubling issue of child labour in view of the peculiarities of Africa and how operators, policymakers, and other stakeholders can tackle it.
“We have picked two accomplished speakers from the mining policy and development communications fields to do justice to the theme, and we’re confident it will be a great class”, she said.
The first speaker, Yaw Britwum Opoku, will address the topic, “Due Diligence in the Solid Minerals Sector: Case of the CRAFT Code“. Opoku is a Social Development Specialist with over sixteen (16) years’ experience in the mining industry in Ghana. He is currently the Advisor, Minerals Supply Chains for Solidaridad West Africa, a Civil Society Organization promoting responsible and sustainable practices in the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector in Ghana and improving livelihoods of people living in mining communities.
The second speaker, Kolapo Olapoju, is saddled with the topic, “Addressing Child Labour Challenges in Artisanal Sectors using Mining as a case study“. Olapoju is an award-winning development and investigative journalist and currently the editor of TheCable, Nigeria’s leading digital newspaper. A 2020 DAME Awards honouree for child-friendly reporting and 2021 Fetisov Journalism Awards finalist, he has contributed to finding solutions to some of the problems bedevilling Nigeria through his work.
Olapoju has done extensive reporting on a wide range of issues affecting underserved populations. His work has been widely featured internationally and most recently, used as a case study for a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded research. The speakers will further address cross-cultural issues within the West African sub-region and beyond, drawing on their experiences from Nigeria and Ghana, and across Africa.
Interested participants can register here to get the meeting details. All WIMTI classes are free and participants are not expected to pay for them. WIMTI is brought to you by Women in Mining Nigeria.
