Why gender matters - Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining ...

Case study 7
52
Specific Projects
Parents’ association
All schools in rural Guinea have a
parents’ association made up mainly
of mothers of students attending
primary school. In association
with an international NGO already
operating in the area, Rio Tinto
agreed to support the members
of the association and provided a
literacy programme linked with
income generating activities. These
activities helped women valueadd
to agriculture products which
they were already growing. The
women were able to learn how
to make dry mangoes, jams and
other preserves and sell them in
the local market. The association
uses the revenue generated from
the sales of these products to buy
school material for students. The
literacy programme has enabled
women to better understand the
written requirements of the income
generating activities, such as filling
out receipts, understanding written
requests, basic maintenance of
financial records and inventory
control.
Education retreat for young girls
Young female students in the
project area face additional
barriers compared to their male
counterparts. Young girls are
expected to perform household
tasks, while their brothers are
allowed time to study for final
exams. Young girls frequently
complain that they do not have
enough time to study during exam
times due to the burden of taking
care of their younger siblings or
household duties.
APROFIG, a local NGO, contacted
Rio Tinto’s Communities team to
request assistance to support a
six-week retreat for young girls to
allow them to study for final exams
(equivalent of O and A Levels)
without the interruptions they
would face at home. As part of
Rio Tinto’s commitment to support
education in an area with a weak
education system and recognising
that proactive measures targeted
to women are required to improve
equality, Rio Tinto has committed
to supporting this initiative for the
next two years. Supported by this
programme, 75 per cent of the girls
who attended the retreat passed the
final school exams in 2008. Further
support will depend on continuous
successful results and status of the
Simandou project development.
Sanitation
Moribadou village is located
approximately 15km from the main
mine camp. This small village has
experienced in-migration, resulting
in pressure on the traditional
sanitation system in the village.
In-migration is one of the main
social risks of the project and an In-
Migration Plan, prepared in 2008,
is being implemented. As part of
this, the Communities team worked
with women from the village to
raise awareness about hygiene.
This resulted in women requesting
support to build traditional latrines.
The Communities team agreed
to support the women, providing
materials and training on usage
and maintenance of latrines, and
the community built the latrine
pits. To date, Rio Tinto and the men
and women of Moribadou have
constructed 60 new latrines.
In the same village, a group of
women created an association
called AMVP to clean the town
after every market. Rio Tinto has
helped the group to improve its
organisation and has provided
safety materials, such as masks and
gloves, and working equipment,
such as brooms and wheelbarrows.
Rio Tinto is also helping the group
to become more sustainable by
involving the municipality, which
will consider financing the group.
Gender and HIV
The Communities team has
a proactive HIV awareness
programme in stakeholder
villages to prevent HIV and other
STIs. In order to better reach the
female population, women have
been trained as peer-educators
on HIV and STI prevention. The
peer-educators hold awarenessraising
sessions with the general
population and they also facilitate
sessions exclusively with women
to discuss both HIV and STI
prevention, allowing women to
raise their questions in a more
discreet setting. Rio Tinto provides
refresher training and the
required teaching and community
communication materials. 7