The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to some of the world’s richest natural resources. Mineral extraction in this region has historically been linked to cycles of conflict, exploitation, and human rights violations.
PeaceGold is a locally-led initiative created in partnership with two artisanal cooperatives, aiming to turn gold into a source of peace and community development. Led by local peacebuilding organisation, Centre Résolution Conflits (CRC) with support from Peace Direct and ethical jeweller Greg Valerio, PeaceGold is a testament to the positive impact of supporting local peacebuilders and communities.
In the northeastern province of Ituri, most mineral production (including gold) is small scale and artisanal. Faced with a colossal heap of red tape, small-scale mines find it virtually impossible to access the legal gold market.
Historically, CRC’s peacebuilding work in this region has focussed on reintegrating ex-combatants – many of whom struggle to find work – into local communities. Specifically, they worked to support two artisanal and small-scale mining cooperatives, accompanying ex-combatants in building livelihoods in artisanal gold mines as part of their community integration.
And they were effective. Déogratias, for instance, was previously a member of a rebel group. After stepping away from conflict, he still struggled with integrating into the community. Following a visit by CRC at the mine he worked at, Déogratias was offered conflict resolution training.
Thanks to this second chance, Déogratias joined the co-op and began overseeing logistics. He says,
Tchatchu Déogratias. Image Credit: Joel Embati / PeaceGold.
But ten years on from their first engagement with CRC, the mining co-ops, though still active, were grappling with issues that were deemed inevitable. Worsening conflict, a lack of funding, and a range of social and economic issues were making it increasingly difficult for these co-ops to survive.
Yet, the cooperatives showed the enormous potential local people and ex-combatants had to be the producers of ethical gold. As put by Jean-Claude, CRC’s Coordinator, “There is no better policy for a community than its involvement in the search for peace.”
In 2017, Peace Direct, CRC and the co-ops submitted the idea for Peace Gold to the GHR Foundations Bridgebuilder Challenge – a funding competition seeking radical new approaches to solve urgent global issues. This competition aimed to find and fund projects around the world working at the intersection of peace, environmental protection, and livelihoods. PeaceGold proposed that local artisanal mines could model the future of sustainable goldmining.
Such a feat seemed near impossible at the time, particularly in the DRC. Many mine sites were in the hands of militia groups, women were unable to build livelihoods, and child labour was a widespread issue, not to mention the damage mining was causing to the natural environment.
The PeaceGold Community. Image Credit: Joel Embati / PeaceGold.
Over the years that followed, PeaceGold evolved into a social enterprise based on a simple idea: get artisanal mines producing and selling ethical gold to the international market and ensure that a percentage of profits go to peacebuilding efforts in the local community. PeaceGold was designed with sustainability at the forefront. 1% of traded income will be put into a social development fund that, in turn, allows communities to control their own development and invest in initiatives that benefit their everyday lives.
Stories of new livelihoods, healing and persistence emerged from the local communities over time. You may have heard some of them over the years.
One story we shared last year was Stella’s. Despite most of her income coming from mines, women were often given less responsibility than men and received lower pay. This created a negative cycle as most women were the main earners in families due to men struggling to find work because of armed conflicts. Through PeaceGold, Stella was supported to transition into fair and sustainable employment outside of the mines, and has set up her own business.
Akiki Mavone Stella. Image Credit: Joel Embati / PeaceGold.
Despite some setbacks in 2023, PeaceGold is now taking shape as a Community Interest Company. It is seeking social enterprise partners willing to share in the vision for social impact and peacebuilding that is at the heart of PeaceGold.
Though our hand in making PeaceGold a reality is shifting to a more subsidiary role, we are incredibly excited to see what the future holds. We are immensely proud of the fact that PeaceGold has helped over 2,000 people in the local community build livelihoods over the past decade. PeaceGold is traceable to its source, and advancing to be mercury-free. It works to eradicate child labour. One percent of all proceeds from the trade of PeaceGold are set aside for the cooperative’s social fund, dedicated to locally led peacebuilding and community development initiatives, such as providing psychosocial support to miner and the community.
PeaceGold is a testament to the efforts, successes, and sustainability of local peacebuilding. Projects like this require support and funding to change things, for good.
PeaceGold are currently inviting jewellers, refiners and manufacturers to register their interest, and take part in the journey to bring peace, sustainability and equality to the world’s gold trade.
Learn more about PeaceGold: https://peacegold.org/support/
Learn about supporting PeaceGold: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/peacegold?exp=exp-pledge&expv=A
Image credit: Joel Embati / PeaceGold
