WOMEN IN MINING CONFERENCE

Transcription

1 WOMEN IN MINING CONFERENCE VOICES FOR CHANGE 3 RD TO THE 6 TH OF AUGUST MADANG RESORT HOTEL 1

2 Porgera Joint Venture Community Development and Women Abstract Porgera Joint Venture supports women of Porgera through its Community Development Section. This section was set up to organize women to participate in women development programs. The section organized the Porgera women in a network (Porgera District Womens Association- PDWA) where it is easy for the mine to work through and serve as advisory body for the women and the company. Community Development also plays a key role in providing social welfare service to the mine employees and the community. The PDWA is a registered non-profit organization and has membership of more than It has a constitution where it operates under. The association have projects such as an Artifacts shop, Screen printing, Canteen, vegetable buying, credit scheme and a Troop carrier hired by the company to generate income to support their families instead of waiting for hand outs from the mine. The Association sponsors Workshops, Training programmes and Awareness campaigns on issues affecting women and children in the community. It holds executive and general meetings every month and also employs people to run the association s projects. 2

3 1.0 Introduction Community Development was set up in response to the need to consider problems faced by women as the mine developed. Initially, this concerned relocation of families into their new houses as well as teaching the women how to clean and care for their new western style homes, but as we progressed, problem areas were exposed that needed to be addressed to ensure harmony within the home. In particular, the women experienced the breakdown of their society plus the loss of food gardens. In addition to the trauma of relating to the impact of a high tech mine, there was also an invasion by thousands of outsiders who were looking for work. With them they brought many of the social problems associated with mining areas. Traditional values were replaced by a new set of values, centered round the new cash economy. While the men-folk were chasing money, the women had to continue in their traditional roles with little or no support from the men and no way to express their grievances to the mine authorities. Considering the nature of the locals, failure to address these issues would have resulted in social instability as the women continuously complained to their men-folk, which in turn would impede the smooth running of the mine. The Community Development section assists and supports the women through the Porgera District Women's Association or Ipili Wanda Yame meaning, women of the Ipili speaking language. This was established on 18th October, 1989, with seven women's groups, Wanda Yame from the seven SML clans. It now comprises more than 150 registered groups in the Porgera Paiela district. The Association has expanded to accommodate the Government Reforms. Porgera has eighteen council wards and the Association is organized following the government political structure. Porgera District Women s Association (PDWA) is recognized by Porgera Joint Venture (PJV)and Porgera Development Authority (PDA) as the authority that represents the views and interests of the women in the district inclusive of SML. Women have one of their members on each of the decision- making boards or committees in the area. PJV and PDA have provided the Association with women's resource center. Unfortunately, the women have outgrown this and have transferred many of their activities to the Community Development office. 3

4 PDA makes funds available for women's training and projects occasionally and PJV provides support through the Community Development section. This section is headed by woman and has qualified female staff as Social Welfare Officer, Community Development Officer, Community Health Extension Officer, Agricultural Officer, Bookkeeper, Special Project s Officer and Women s Trainer. Community Development staff work very closely with the community (male & female) and the company management and employees. The monthly meetings of the Association are well attended. PJV senior management frequently attends when requested or when they wish to pass on important first hand information to the women. All ideas for projects as well as complaints are brought to the meetings and the way to address each issue is discussed. The Association also networks with Provincial and National Government agencies and outside organizations and NGOs. The Association is incorporated and registered as a bona fide charity and business group. It is also affiliated to the Enga Provincial Council of Women and then to the National Council of Women. All the above was the initiative of the Community Development to serve as a network to reach out to the women and as a framework within which to work with women. As a result of exposure over the years to other women's networks, the Association is more independent of Community Development, and is stronger in making its own decisions and running its own affairs. The women are more outspoken and more aware of the power they have as an organized group. Community Development still works closely with the Association, but in more of a trouble shooting or advisory or training and technical assistance capacity. The day to day running of the Association is no longer the responsibility of Community Development. 2.0 Objectives.1 To promote the development of women s groups in the Porgera District.2 To help organize education and training courses for women..3 To assist member groups in the education of their members in order to improve upon the programs and projects carried out by those groups..4 To educate on their legal and social rights and responsibilities.5 To educate women regarding the basic health and nutrition needs of their families..6 To promote and develop leadership in women through their education and the education of others, so as to ensure their participation in decisionmaking at both local and district level..7 To work with all levels of government, churches, businesses and the community in Porgera District to ensure education, training and development continue to meet of the people of the Porgera district. 4

5 .8 To present women in the district in all matters relating to or affecting the rights and welfare of women and their children The above objectives of the association are achieved through training, workshops, seminars, extension community visits and by working closely with the company, Government and the non government organizations 3.0 Training Improvement of Family Life through Women s Education Following are the regular training session conducted for women 3.1 Health There are health awareness training in villages on problems affecting the women and the community. Mainly the focus is on Sexual Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDs, Hygiene, family planing, baby care and prevention of common diseases. Medical Experts from outside of Porgera like IMR Goroka are invited by the Mine medical centre to train people in the community on the spread of the killer disease HIV/AIDS by conducting Peer Educators training. Also counselors are train to do follow-up on victims. The women, youth, pastors, and company employees are trained to be peer educators. Women s network is used by the Health authorities to do campaigns, patrols and village based training. 3.2 Vocational Training is provided for village women on sewing of garments, curtains, cushion covers, mending and Screening printing. Experts have been brought in to conduct Sewing machine maintenance. Some of these women trained on screen printing and sewing are re-employed by PDWA to work on the sewing and screen printing projects while others do their own sewing for sale. Similar kinds of activities are organized for the girls through the girl guides program. 3.3 Business 5

6 Basic Book Keeping training had been carried out by an expert volunteer from AESOP Australia. This was done in order to enable the book keeper to produce and present monthly financial reports. Follow up visits are made by the AESOP volunteer every year. Women from the association benefit from the expert training. The PDWA bookkeeper provides further training and is one of the products of this training and she provides training for those women who need training on project management and book- keeping. 3.4 Nutritional Training on cooking and baking especially using the introduced vegetables to encourage self-sufficiency. This has been successfully accomplished at village level Agriculture extension services are provided to villages on introduced fruits and vegetables, land management and small animals like ducks, chickens, rabbits and fish. The women are provided with technical advice, seedlings and small animals for backyard gardening. Introduce new fruits like apples, avocado, grafted oranges and vegetables to the community from within PNG and overseas. 3.5 Adult Literacy There are twenty schools with more than 600 adult and elementary school aged students taught by trained adult literacy schoolteachers. Ten schools are funded by PDWA while the community supports the other ten in kind. PDWA will have its first graduates in December 2003.It will be the first time for our illiterate women to be able to read and write in basic tok pisin. 4.0 Social Welfare There are counseling services provided by the PJV Community Development office to the community and company employees. PDWA organizes workshops, demonstrations and seminars on issues affecting women. Women had received Paralegal training from ICRAF and has assisted them to prepare summons and take men to court on maintenance cases. 4.1 Demonstration This involves social monitoring and providing the necessary support to the women. The women are encouraged to challenge or demonstrate publicly against anything that causes a threat to the home front. Examples 6

7 1.. "Lo Na Meri De" on which the women challenged the Police and Village Court Magistrates at an open forum about their reluctance to deal with the violence against women. 2. "Bia Jia De" (no beer day) on which the women staged a public demonstration and daubed themselves in mud and challenged men and police about drunkenness and alcohol related problems. 3. The women march and rally to condemn domestic violence in Porgera District. The wearing of black on Thursdays is a protest against violence against women and children. 4. The banning of "6 to 6 discos" as being against local culture and a source of social problems. 5. The constant struggle to have betelnut sales, gambling and weapons removed from the station. 4.2 Counseling Services Counseling services are provided to assist the women with family problems and to handle sexual harassment within the Company. Advice on law and order and social problems such as rape, polygamy, domestic violence and child abuse, maintenance for deserted wives and children are provided to the communities. A child- minding center is provided for female employees. 5.0 Financial Empowerment of the Association Porgera Joint Venture Community Development has assisted to set up and run a number of small businesses for the Association to have continuous flow of funds. This is done to carry out the programmes independently of Government and Company. The small business or projects include an Artifacts store, Canteen, Drapery shop, Screen printing, Troop carrier, Credit Scheme and Vegetable sales. The Association aims to sell what the community needs and keep the profit margin down as a service to the women. To bring women up to where they are now, Community Development ran the projects and slowly trained individuals to do the books. Women are now running businesses on their own with many challenges. Community Development 7

8 believes the challenges are there for their learning experience and the section is on hand to assist and advice without doing the work for them. 5.1 Credit Scheme The profits of the business/projects, twenty thousand kina (K20 000) funded the establishment of the mini credit scheme for individual groups to run their own businesses. The credit scheme is running very well with a repayment rate of 15% interest. Ninety nine percent of 112 women have paid back their loans and others are ready to get their share. 5.2 Troop Carrier A troop carrier purchased from the money made by the women s businesses. The vehicle is hired by the Porgera Joint Venture. 5.3 Canteen The canteen sells goods (grocery, soft drinks, cigarettes etc) to the company employees and families 5.4 Screen Printing & Drapery Shop The screening printing orders for all sporting groups, company and for sales are printed by the women. Also all materials for curtains and garments are sold at the drapery shop. 5.5 Vegetables The women buy vegetables from the farmers and resell to the mine catering company. Also seed and fertilizers are sold to farmers. 6.0 What can be done to decrease negative impact? 6.1 Consultation Right from the beginning women should be included in any consultations in relation to any mining projects with the government officials, resource company and the landowner group. Women should not be left out in negotiations. Women must choose their own representatives and be heard. Non negotiable. If the consultation does not include women then the consultation should not proceed. 6.2 Gender Equality There should be equal number of male and female representation in the agents. 6.3 Awareness 8

9 Prior to any mining activities, the government and stakeholders should do awareness on the positive and negative impact. People must know the real impacts before accepting. 6.4 Womens Section: A Women s section should be established and staffed by a senior women officer prior to commencement of construction. Her role will be to assist women - in the project impact area to form an appropriate Womens group. - The second task will be to recruit other women for the section with the expertise appropriate for the project area. The task of the section is to: - monitor the situation of women in the project impact area; - providing advice to mine management on issues affecting women; - Developing and implementing programmes to mitigate the adverse impacts of the mine on women; - Provide advice and assistance to women s groups and organizations in the mine impact area; and - Monitor the needs of, and any problems relating to, female employees of the mine and its contractors. 6.5 Womens Association: Organise women groups to form only one active association to voice issues and problems affecting the women and children in the district. A properly constituted women s association is one way to ensure women s continuing participation is decision making and development programmes aimed for their benefit. Properly constituted women s women s associations have three important functions: - The primary function is to help women develop skills which will allow them to have a culturally acceptable public voice to participate in decision making and influence change. - To promote formal, non-formal and informal education to meet the needs of women and family life development. - To identify ways women can improve their economic status by improving subsistence agriculture, acquiring business skills and identifying incomegenerating activities. (A full time women s business development officer and an agricultural officer should be available to assist in an advisory capacity). 6.6 Relocation 9

10 Planning of relocation must be ten (10) to twenty (20) years after the mine life. Children s future should be considered for housing and gardening land. 6.7 Sustainability Awareness and planning on sustainability, rehabilitation and closure should be addressed in the early lifetime of the mine, so that the community can accept that mining is non renewable and they have to prepare to sustain their lives. Government officers should be playing their role in the community and work together with the people from the start to the end. 7.0 Conclusion Work continues and the women are becoming stronger. It is hoped that all the training and empowerment will lead to a better life and sustainability after the closure of the mine. The skills we teach the women are for the improvement of family life and to ensure there is good food on the table and that the family remains healthy. It is also to ensure the men accept women on all decision-making bodies and to make the women more socially aware and knowledgeable of their rights and the laws of PNG. It is hoped that the women will have a strong input in ensuring a smooth transition from a society dependent on wages from the mine to one that is more self sufficient in line with the rest of the country. Women should fully participate in the negotiation of the mine and the planning of the mine closure. 10

11 WOMEN IN MINING CONFERENCE - VOICES FOR A CHANGE PJV COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PORGERA DISTRICT WOMEN S ASSOCIATION

12 INTRODUCTION: Establishment of Community Development: Response to women s needs and problems. Provide support and assistance. Provides avenues for small projects. Bridge between company and local women.

13 LOCATION MAP

14 PORGERA DISTRICT WOMEN S ASSOCIATION: BACKGROUND INFORMATION; Established in Oct Seven groups representing seven clans. Comprised now of ninety six groups - Porgera/Paiela Expanded to included council ward groups in line with Government Reforms. Incorporated and registered as a bona fide charity and business group.

15 Aims of the Association Promote development women s groups Organize education and training for women Assist member and groups to improve in programs and project. Educate women on their legal and social rights and responsibilities.

16 Aims Cont d Educate women and their families on basic health and nutrition. Promote and develop leadership in women. Work with all levels of government, churches, businesses and community in Porgera District. Represent women on all matters affecting women and children.

17 PROGRAMS: 1. Training Programs: Relocation Training. Para-legal training. Health Education (HIV/AIDS &STIs). Vocational Training. Adult Literacy Training. Book keeping.

18 Leadership Training;

19 2. Projects Canteen Drapery Shop Screen Printing Artifacts Mini Credit Scheme Vegetable Agriculture (trials, extension visits) Troop carrier hire.

20 Eg: Credit Scheme Poultry Second Hand Clothes Betelnut & Cigarettes Canteen confectionery Synthetic wool and Snacks Vegetables

21 3. Welfare Services: Counseling. Seminars (Family life..) Advocacy campaigns.

22 4. Mine Closure Land Rehabilitation. SML Women s Committee. Represented in Sustainability Committee.

23 The Negative Impacts: Land Shortage for Gardening; Land is shared with outsiders. No direct benefits for women from royalties, compensations etc. Marriages of convenience; No traditional sanctions. Social and Health Problems; Domestic violence. Drug and alcohol abuse Prostitution, HIV/AIDS & STIs.

24 Avenues for Improving negative impacts: Consultation. Gender equality. Awareness Women s section in the company Recognized Women s Association. Relocation planning. Sustainability issues.

25 In Conclusion Women are stronger; have a voice financially stable, independent and organized, aware of their rights, self confident.

26

27

28

29

30