Women decry inequality in mining sector

President and founder of Women In Mining in Nigeria (WIMIN), Janet Adeyemi, has lamented gender inequality in the mining sector, noting that other developed nations have broken the barrier.

In her opening remarks at the Research Validation and Policy Dialogue in Bauchi State, yesterday, the engineer said many countries had ensured that their policies reflect gender, as nobody wants to be reckoned with a society that has no respect or concern for its women and children.

She said: “As we discuss policy matters with stakeholders, we want to challenge the Bauchi State government, especially the Ministry of Natural Resources, which has just been approved to function as an independent ministry away from the Ministry of Agriculture, to direct its attention on gender-based issues in the mining sector in Bauchi and I believe this is one of their mandates as a Ministry.”

The Research Validation and Policy Dialogue is part of WIMIN’s programme to Safeguard the Rights of Women and Children in the Mining Sector in Nigeria, supported by Open Society Foundation (OSF), in partnership with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Pointing out that WIMIN has mapped out three states for the programme and Bauchi, on its merit, made it to the list, she assured that WIMIN would continue to promote the inclusion of all, even in the emerging transformational developments such as energy, digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI).