Wacam Give Skills To Locals

Posted om: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Accra Thursday October 25, 2012.

WACAM, AN environmental mining advocacy organisation working for the protection of the rights of mining communities has ended a three-day skills training workshop for some locals in mining communities in the Ashanti Region.

The programme which was aimed at empowering the locals to be self-sustaining attracted 35 participants from the catchment area of AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi mine and the communities benefited included Anyankyirem, Akatakyieso, Amamom, Adaase, Oseikrom and Software.

The rest were Fenaso, Fawoman, Hiampenipa and Mankonoagonso.

According to the Associate Executive Director of Wacam, Hannah Owusu-Koranteng  about 80 percent of the participants were women and she explained that the programme targeted the women because “they are mostly vulnerable financially.”

“Women in mining communities suffer the greatest negative effects of the destruction of the environment and the loss of livelihood in the event of surface mining and that was the reason for the focus on women in the livelihood skills training workshop.”

She said that the mining communities suffer violations of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights when surface mining operations are undertaken and there was the need to assure the people of their livelihoods.

“Surface mining operations result in the loss of livelihood of many land-based communities who depend on farming as a major source of income to support their families and this situation has contributed to the worsening poverty conditions in mining communities,” she noted. 

According to Mrs. Owusu-Koranteng, the livelihood workshop is the first of its kind organised by Wacam with the objective of equipping mining community people especially women with “Livelihood skills to address the problem of livelihood loss and for economic empowerment of mining communities.”

Explaining the rationale behind the livelihood skills programme,  Mrs. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng said that Wacam had been successful in the protection of the rights of mining communities in the rights education programme and sees economic empowerment as important for the mining communities.

She said Wacam developed the Sustainable Livelihood Network (SULNET) programme about five (5) years ago based on Needs Assessment undertaken by Wacam in mining communities but the SULNET project of Wacam had not been able to materialise for many years due to difficulties in seeking funding for the project.

The participants were taught tie and dye making, soap making, small ruminants rearing, savouries and cookies and grasscutter rearing. She expressed gratitude to DKA, a Catholic Charity organisation in Austria, which funded the livelihood skills development workshop for the mining communities in Obuasi.