HeforShe Mines Côte d’Ivoire Association, Nominee for The Change-Maker Award, 2023 Africa Awards

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Mines and Geology officially launched the HeForShe Mines Côte d’Ivoire Association in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in December 2020.

A first of its kind in the mining sector, this project is the result of a partnership between the state, the private sector, and UN Women. This NGO was created to improve gender equality in the industry on the Ivory Coast.

In the Ivorian Mining sector, anecdotally 90 per cent of all jobs are occupied by men; such that less then 10 per cent of the business is comprised of women.

The organisation’s goal is to change perceptions of women in mining by inviting men within professional and leadership roles to be ambassadors for the HeforShe project and so accelerate the transformation of the mining industry by then employing more women at every stage of organisations.

INITIATIVE: PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN TO INCREASE WOMEN IN MINING IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

The HeForShe Mines Côte d’Ivoire Association’s objective is to fight discrimination towards women in the mining industry by creating a movement of HeforShe ambassadors i.e. men who support women in mining who will lead the transformation of the industry by recognising the value women bring to the workplace. These ambassadors then lead by example in media campaigns, in the workplace, at recruitment opportunities to encourage women to get involved in mining.

BENCHMARKING & NETWORKING

• The Association has a partnership with UN Women to support this work. A consultant provided by UN Women is currently undertaking a study to benchmark the situation of women working in the Ivorian Mining sector.
• The results of the study will provide the baseline quota, so that the Association can measure their success over time as they seek to increase numbers of women in the Ivorian mining sector.
• The Association is in discussion with HeforShe New York to assist with advocacy for the innovative initative of the Mining Industry on the Ivory Coast.

RECRUITMENT & JOB CREATION

• The Association is creating jobs to offer fulfilling career opportunities for women; and organising mentoring of young talent and promoting these in schools and universities.

MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

• The Association is engaging men in leadership positions to become ambassadors for the campaign and encourage women to work in the Mining industry.
• Through marketing campaigns and webinar creation, the Association seeks to empower women to make a contribution in the world of mining scheduled to reach an international audience in late 2023.
• Results: major positive shifts in the employment objectives of major Ivorian mining companies such as Endeavour Mining, who announced all new jobs offered in any department of their organisation, should at least be 20% made from women.

CHANGING CULTURAL ATTITUDES

• The Association identified that change will happen once the male mentality towards women shifts. Therefore, the HeForShe Mine initiative targets men of the Mining sector so that they become true HeForShe advocate and that they become the source of change.
• The Association is a platform for mining companies to join and so become HeforShe ambassadors who then implement initiatives to drive gender equality in their companies and businesses.
• A future initiative is to create a network of HeforShe men on mining sites by organising an event to turn around the gender equality in the mining sector.