Publication: Supporting Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Date
2023-08-01
ISSN
Published
2023-08-01
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
In 2020, the World Bank projected
that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could push more
than hundred million people into extreme poverty. The
estimated forty-five million people around the world working
in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) were particularly
vulnerable because of the informal, often precarious nature
of their working conditions and lack of access to social
safety nets. At the height of the initial lockdown, as
mineral prices dropped and mining sites closed, artisanal
and small-scale miners, their families, and their
communities suffered large declines in income and rising
food insecurity. Without intervention, they were at risk of
sliding into poverty. At the same time, there was concern
that gains made over several decades to formalize the sector
would be eroded, particularly where community tensions were
rising. To address these risks, the World Bank took early
action. In May 2020, the extractives global programmatic
support (EGPS) trust fund initiated a rapid global survey to
identify miners’ needs and then used the results to mobilize
an emergency response window that raised 6.6 million in
support to ASM communities in 22 countries. This report
describes the EGPS emergency response window for ASM
Communities Impacted by COVID-19, what it achieved, and what
the World Bank has identified as priority areas for action
in ASM communities going forward.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2023. Supporting Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40125 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”