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

Case study 8: Rio Tinto in Zimbabwe
Women’s engagement in
the resettlement process
8
The project
The Murowa Diamond Mine is located near Zvishavane in south
west Zimbabwe. Rio Tinto started exploration in the region in 1992,
and subsequently developed a small scale operation with potential
to expand should the current local socio-economic and political
conditions and the world market conditions improve to allow for
further investment. The first diamonds were produced in 2004, and
the operation currently employs around 100 permanent staff and 200
people on long term contracts.
Zvishavane
Zimbabwe
Rio Tinto commenced community consultation and engagement early
in the project and by 1999, it was determined that the mining lease
would require 1,200 hectares of land, which was occupied by 142
families who would need to be resettled in order for the process to
proceed. At the same time 265 graves needed to be relocated before
mine construction commenced.
Early engagement and
negotiation with the
community to be resettled
The company conducted a
comprehensive programme of
community consultation as part of
its social and environment impact
analysis. This included the public
involvement programme (PIP) and
community baseline study. Special
attention was paid to female-headed
households, and also to childheaded
households, ensuring that
they were given equal opportunities
to engage in the consultation
process as other families.
In 2000, the company began
negotiations with all parties,
including government, NGOs
and communities. The aim of
the negotiations was to come
to a common understanding of
the process and outcomes of a
resettlement programme. The
parties agreed on the principles
of relocation including that the
families would all be moved as a
group and that Rio Tinto would
try to find land nearby, within an
area familiar to the community
and with a similar culture. This
would be done to minimise the
social and cultural impacts.
The parties then moved into a
two year process of negotiation
in a series of workshops, led by an
external mediator, which resulted
in agreements about relocation,
compensation and other conditions
and community requests. The
community elected a representative
committee to negotiate on their
behalf and four of the eleven
representatives were women.
The need for women’s participation
became particularly apparent
through the consultation process
as women were consistently more
able to provide the necessary
information about landholdings,
including the crops planted and
sometimes the history of the
families. These issues are central
to successful resettlement and
approaches to compensation.
Rio Tinto worked with men
and women to support women
to engage in areas that were
traditionally not their domain.
For example, those women whose
husbands had died had their assets
and properties registered in their
name, which had not happened in
the past. In the resettlement process
women took a central role during
the relocation of graves, with some
leading exhumation grave side
prayers and traditional rituals.
By May 2001, the company,
community and government
were able to conduct an official
signing ceremony for the
relocation agreement which
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