Ghana: Child Labor Fuels Gold Supply Chain
Human Rights Watch - RFI.fr
Métal précieux, travail bon marché : Le travail des enfants et la responsabilité des entreprises relative aux mines d'or artisanales du Ghana, documente l'utilisation du travail des enfants dans les mines artisanales ou sans licence du Ghana, où se produit la plus grande partie de l'extraction minière dans ce pays.
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H
PRECIOUS METAL, CHEAP LABOR Child Labor and Corporate Responsibility in Ghana's Artisanal Gold Mines
Copyright © 2015 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-31609 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org
JUNE2015978-1-6231-31609 Precious Metal, Cheap Labor Child Labor and Corporate Responsibility in Ghana's Artisanal Gold Mines
Map .................................................................................................................................... i
Summary and Recommendations........................................................................................ 1
Methodology.....................................................................................................................14
I. Background: Gold Mining in Ghana................................................................................ 16
II. Child Labor in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining ................................................... 19 Causes of Child Labor in Mining ............................................................................................. 20 Pay.........................................................................................................................................22 Working Hours........................................................................................................................23 The Hazardous Nature of Mining Work.....................................................................................24 Impact on Education............................................................................................................... 31 Attitude of Mine Managers, Sponsors, and Traders to Child Labor ...........................................34
III. Child Labor and the Gold Supply Chain: The Responsibility of Companies.................... 36 Responsibility of Companies in the Gold Supply Chain ............................................................36 From Ghana's Mines to the Global Gold Market .......................................................................37 Due Diligence by Traders in Ghana..........................................................................................42 Due Diligence by Global Gold Refiners ................................................................................... 46
IV. Ghanaian Government Response ................................................................................. 57 Failure to Protect Children from Abuse .................................................................................... 57 Challenges in Ensuring Access to Education............................................................................ 61 Government's Approach to Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining ......................................... 64 Addressing the Threat of Mercury............................................................................................67 Regulating the Gold Trade...................................................................................................... 69
V. Donors, UN Agencies, and NGOs ................................................................................... 70 Child Labor in Mining..............................................................................................................70 Mining and Mercury Use ......................................................................................................... 71 Supply Chain Due Diligence ....................................................................................................72
VI. The Way Forward ......................................................................................................... 74
Full Recommendations ..................................................................................................... 75 To the Government of Ghana................................................................................................... 75 To Ghanaian Export Companies, including the PMMC, and International Gold Refiners .........78 To Ghana's Association of Small-Scale Miners ........................................................................79 To Gold Traders in Mining Areas ............................................................................................. 80 To Mine Managers and Machine Owners ................................................................................ 80 To Large-Scale Gold Mining Companies in Ghana ................................................................... 80 To the ECOWAS Commissioner on Gender and Social Affairs................................................... 80 To the Government of Switzerland.......................................................................................... 80 To the Government of the United Arab Emirates ..................................................................... 80 To Donor Governments and Implementing Agencies, and UN Agencies .................................... 81 To the International Labour Organization ................................................................................ 81 To the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ........................................... 81
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................ 82
HUMANRIGHTSWATCH|JUNE2015
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 
Women and children carry pans of ore at Dompim mining site, Tarkwa-Nsuaem district, Western Region. © 2014 Juliane Kippenberg/Human Rights Watch
I go [to the gold processing site] at 6 a.m. and come back at 5 p.m. I have a break at lunchtime. I am very tired from it. Sometimes I buy painkillers to soothe the pain in my back and chest….I sell the gold to a buyer, his name is [name withheld]…. [I sell to him] at his house. He does not ask about my age. The trader also gives me mercury. —"K!," 12, H, A C , A 2014
All I need to know is the gold is coming and that it is real gold. —T, D!--O, A 2014
Ghana is one of the world's top 10 gold producers. Many traders and refiners prefer to source gold from Ghana—a stable democracy—rather than from controversial conflict-affected regions. However, companies that do buy gold from Ghana risk benefiting from hazardous child labor.
Around one-third of Ghana's gold is mined in artisanal and small-scale mines, locally called galamsey, and exported at a trade value well above US$1 billion per year. Artisanal and small-scale mines operate with simple machinery, limited investment, and a large workforce. Most of these mines operate illegally without a license and belong to the informal sector. They offer important income opportunities for Ghana's rural populations, but also encourage hazardous child labor and cause serious environmental damage.
PRECIOUS METAL, CHEAP LABOR