News
Kufatilia wins the 2021 Stop Slavery Award
March 8, 2021The 2021 Stop Slavery Award attributed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation was granted to Ulula for the project Kufatilia, in the category “collaboration”. Kufatilia is an artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) incident tracker developed by IPIS and powered by Ulula. It is a tool for Congolese civil society organisations to report and monitor incidents in Eastern DRC in a transparent,
Third Multi-Stakeholder Conference on Business and Human Rights in Tanzania stresses the need for awareness, stakeholder engagement and a National Action Plan
February 24, 2021On the 17th of February 2021, around 80 key stakeholders from civil society, communities, business and government agencies from Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar gathered at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Dar es Salaam for the third annual multi-stakeholder conference on Business & Human Rights in Tanzania. This event was organised by the Tanzanian Commission for Human Rights and Good Governa
Discussing Business and Human Rights in Tanzania: stakeholder workshops
February 23, 2021On 16 February 2021, Business and Human Rights Tanzania (BHRT), the International Peace Information Service (IPIS) and the Commission for Human Rights and good Goverance (CHRAGG) held a series of bilateral consultations and workshops with civil society and business stakeholders in preparation of the third annual Multi-stakeholder Conference on Business and Human Rights in Tanzania, planned on 17 F
Conflict diamonds are real, real talk is rare
February 12, 2021IPIS is a member of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition which works for better rights of communities affected by diamond mining. A new video of the Coalition highlights that conflict diamonds are not a thing of the past. The video shows jewelers the testimonies of Progress, Héritier and Ibrahim, community members from Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, who suffe
Stakeholder Consultation on the Belgian National Baseline Assessment on Business & Human Rights
February 3, 2021On February 10, 2021, HIVA-KU Leuven, The Law and Development Research Group and IPIS will hold a stakeholder consultation on the Belgian National Baseline Assessment on Business & Human Rights. Discover the programme and register here.
Agoria Academy on Supply Chain Due Diligence
February 1, 2021On the first of January 2021 the EU Regulation on Responsible Minerals entered into force. It is hence high time for businesses in Europe to prepare for the mandatory due diligence requirements of the Regulation. On 21st of January IPIS delivered a half-day training session to members of Agoria, the federation for the Belgian technology sector. This Agoria Academy on Supply Chain Due Diligence cov
The relevance of the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation for 3TG producing countries
December 17, 2020The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation will come into force on January 1, 2021. From this date, European 3TG importers will need to carry out due diligence to identify, manage and report on risks in their supply chains. Concerned companies, the Member State Competent Authorities, the EU Commission and producing countries all need to make the necessary adjustments in the coming months. Civil Society O
Kufatilia – Towards a more responsible gold supply chain in eastern DRC
December 10, 2020Artisanal and small-scale gold is widely used in the electronics industry. But gold is also the predominant conflict mineral in eastern Congo, where it is illegally traded to fund armed actors. Artisanal gold is difficult to trace, and because of its volume it can be easily smuggled. Few gold mines in eastern Congo are officially qualified, and traceability initiatives for gold remain largely expl
Supporting mining cooperatives in Beni
November 9, 2020The population of Beni Territory has been victim of deadly violence since 2014, following the presence of national and foreign armed groups such as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebellion and Mai Mai groups. The stabilisation project ‘Ensemble pour Beni’ aims to address insecurity and promote stability in the territory through a variety of initiatives, including a pillar focusing on ‘relaunch
Shining a light on IPIS data – A goodbye from our latest GIS intern
November 6, 2020With the world going into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, late March 2020 was perhaps not the optimum time to move to a new city and begin a six-month internship. My bewilderment was quickly alleviated: IPIS staff did a great job of welcoming me on to the team and provided training on various software remotely, so I was soon up and running as a GIS intern. The internship was the concludi
Transparent, independent and participatory: How can a platform support a network of CSO in Congo?
November 3, 2020On the occasion of the 2020 GeONG Forum, IPIS presented its project Kufatilia. In a video, IPIS explained how this phone-based participatory platform helps Congolese CSOs reporting and monitoring incidents in the mineral supply chains.
Intermediate findings on the Belgian National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights.
November 3, 2020On October 29th, researchers from the University of Antwerp, the University of Leuven and IPIS presented their intermediate findings on the Belgian National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights (NBA) during a workshop of the Sustainable Development Goal Forum 2020.
Story Map of ASM Sites in the DRC
October 6, 2020Explore IPIS’ eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) webmap with a guided narrative. In its new story map, IPIS presents data gathered on eastern DRC’s artisanal mining sector and highlights key information from its reports investigating the interactions between natural resources and conflict dynamics in the region.
Online Conference – Human Rights in the Diamond Supply Chain
October 6, 2020On October 7th and 8th, representatives of IPIS, the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition and Human Rights Watch, will highlight the human rights violations occurring in diamond mining communities producing Kimberley Process certified diamonds and present recommendations.
IPIS’ project Matokeo among the winners of the ASM Grand Challenge
October 2, 2020On October 1st, IPIS and its partner Ulula were awarded a $118,000 price for their project “Matokeo” during the ASM Grand Challenge Award Ceremony.
IPIS’ successful handover of the Regional Mineral Database to ICGLR
September 29, 2020IPIS finalised the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Regional Database on Mineral Flow and successfully handed it over to the organisation. Once operational, this web-based database will be gathering and updating data on mine sites, chain of custody, and exporters.
IPIS on BNNR’s Training Day: “Natural Resources: Stakes, Consequences, Alternatives”
September 18, 2020On Saturday, October 3rd 2020, the Belgian Natural Resources Network (BNNR) will welcome you for a day of training on the stakes of natural resources, the consequences of their exploitation and the alternatives to be built.
Kufatilia leaflet
September 17, 2020IPIS supports an independent, transparent and participatory platform for incident reporting and community empowerment in responsible sourcing in the eastern DRC artisanal mining sector. Discover what Kufatilia is all about.
New Website on the Belgian National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights
July 23, 2020The website on the Belgian National Baseline Assessment on business and human rights (NBA) informs stakeholders on the NBA process, timeline and methodology.
Webinar on the Impact of COVID-19 on African communities affected by diamond mining
July 7, 2020On Monday July 6, the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition (KP CSC) organised a webinar on addressing the challenges posed by Covid-19 for African diamond mining communities.