
Matokeo – Data collection on ASM in eastern DRC
September 27, 2022‘Matokeo’ (meaning ‘impact’ in Swahili) is a data-driven platform operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the ability to reach last mile artisanal miners, enabling them to ping the latest international price of gold. Conceptualized by Ulula and the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), the project won a Conservation X grant in October 2020 for its ability to remotely col

The Impact of Covid-19 on artisanal mining in Western Central African Republic
January 21, 2021To assess the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Western Central African Republic (CAR), IPIS conducted a series of phone surveys with key informants located on 260 gold and diamond mining sites. The Covid-19 pandemic has been particularly harsh on the artisanal mining sector in Western CAR, emphasizing existing trends since the 2

IPIS Briefing October 2020 – Matokeo
November 2, 2020The IPIS briefing offers a selection of articles, news and updates on natural resources, armed conflict, Business & Human Rights and arms trade. Every month, an editorial and related publications shed a light on a specific topic in IPIS’ areas of research. In focus: Matokeo In the news: Going deep into Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado extremism; Business and human rights: global developments; Europ

The impact of Covid-19 on artisanal mines in western CAR
October 16, 2020To assess the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the artisanal and small-scale sector in the Central African Republic, IPIS conducted a series of phone interviews targeting key informants to collect information on minerals production, prices and illegal taxation on gold and diamond artisanal mining sites in western CAR.

The impact of Covid-19 on Gold and Diamond artisanal mines in Western Central African Republic
July 24, 2020Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, IPIS closely monitors the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on 3T, Gold and Diamond mines and national supply chains in Tanzania, the Central African Republic (CAR) and the DR Congo. Through structured quantitative and qualitative data collection, IPIS measures the impact on a large amount of mining sites. IPIS is working through its long-established netw

Maps of conflict minerals in Eastern DRC (2020)
June 9, 2020IPIS created maps of conflict minerals in eastern DRC, more particularly on Haut Uele, Ituri and North and South Kivu. These maps detail the type of minerals, the qualification of the mines, the mining titles and give an overview of armed presence in and around the mines. d Download the North Kivu map in full resolution Download the South Kivu map in full resolution Download the Haut

Transparency and Formalization of Gold Supply Chains in Eastern DR Congo
May 12, 2020Advancing incident reporting and community participation in responsible sourcing From January 2018 till December 2019, IPIS and its partner CEGEMI (Catholic University of Bukavu) carried out a capacity enhancement project in the gold mining sector in Eastern Congo, financed by the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM). The project was composed of two complementary parts: 1) a mining

How much does a miner earn? Assessment of miner’s revenue; basic needs study in the DRC
May 7, 2020How much does a miner earn in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)? Can a miner’s family cover its basic needs? In a new report, IPIS and Levin Sources compare the income of miners and their basic needs expenditures, to provide a better and nuanced understanding of why ASM communities seem to remain extremely poor and identify the factors that impact their income. This report is the first to fin

Mapping artisanal mining sites in the Western Central African Republic (2019)
April 7, 2020This report presents an analysis of the artisanal mining sector in western Central African Republic (CAR) and outlines some of the challenges surrounding gold and diamond mining, trade and export. From April to July 2019, the International Peace Information Service (IPIS), in partnership with national authorities, carried out a mapping of artisanal mining sites in western CAR. A total of 322 sites

Ground-Based Incident Reporting in eastern DRC – Progress Report 3
November 15, 2019In January 2018, the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM) granted IPIS funds to implement an independent, transparent and participatory platform for incident reporting and community empowerment in responsible sourcing in the eastern DRC gold sector. This platform will have to contribute in improving transparency around follow-up and resolution of incidents in cooperation with relev

Map Pastoralism Ouham Pendé (2019)
September 12, 2019Each year the annual migration of transnational transhumance through the prefecture of Ouham-Pende, in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR), uproots a deep-seated mistrust between nomadic and sedentary communities. Escalating militancy and environmental pressures in the region has only amplified these issues in recent years.In partnership with Concordis International, IPIS hopes to enhance

Artisanal and small-scale mining mapping in the Runde Rural District of Zimbabwe
June 28, 2019IPIS and the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) collaborated to map artisanal and small-scale mining in the Runde Rural district of Zimbabwe. Following a training on Mobile Data Collection (MDC) tools organized by IPIS in November 2018, ZELA conducted a pilot study on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) in the area. Five groups of enumerators from seven wards in Zvishavane visited 31

Assessing the impact of due diligence programmes in Eastern DRC: A baseline study
April 24, 2019Over the past decade, various legislative and due diligence programmes (DDP) have been developed to improve mining communities’ livelihoods and reduce human rights abuses in conflict affected and high- risk areas, with a special focus on the African Great Lakes region. Despite significant growth and investments in minerals certification and traceability schemes, data on the impact of due diligence

ASM Incident Tracker
April 5, 2019Welcome to Kufatilia, the ASM Incident Tracker developed by IPIS in collaboration with the Expertise Centre on Mining Governance (CEGEMI) based in Bukavu, and powered by Ulula. The ASM Incident Tracker is a tool for Congolese civil society organisations to report and monitor incidents in Eastern DRC in a transparent, independent and participatory way. The reported incidents, in line

Ground-based incident reporting in eastern DRC – Progress Report 2
February 15, 2019In January 2018, the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals (EPRM) granted IPIS funds to implement an independent, transparent and participatory platform for incident reporting and community empowerment in responsible sourcing in the Eastern DRC gold sector. This platform will contribute to improving transparency around follow-up and resolution of incidents in cooperation with relevant stak

Article – The Political Economy of Roadblocks in the Central African Republic
October 2, 2018From September 2016 to September 2017, the International Peace Information Service (IPIS) and the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) conducted a mapping of roadblocks in the Central African Republic. This data collection campaign also features more than 200 interviews with various actors and was combined with data from other reports on roadblocks to form a comprehensive study on the

Central African Republic – Ouham-Pende Basemap (2019)
September 17, 2018Each year the annual migration of transnational transhumance through the prefecture of Ouham-Pende, in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR), uproots a deep-seated mistrust between nomadic and sedentary communities. Escalating militancy and environmental pressures in the region has only amplified these issues in recent years. These maps, created by IPIS, detail the towns, villages, roads, ID

Ground-based incident reporting in Eastern DRC – Progress Report 1
July 23, 2018In January 2018, IPIS and its partner CEGEMI (a Bukavu-based research institute) launched a two-year project founded by EPRM to advance incident reporting and community participation in responsible sourcing through cooperative and CSO capacity enhancement in Eastern DR Congo gold sector. “First field visit to identify potential cooperative to be part of project activities.” Copyright: Gabriel KAMU

The Politics of Pillage: the political economy of roadblocks in the Central African Republic (2017)
December 7, 2017IPIS puts roadblocks on the map as key mechanism of conflict funding besides natural resources, revealing its devastating scope in funding armed actors in Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic Mapping over a thousand roadblocks, IPIS uncovers the shocking extent of armed predation on trade routes in conflict-ridden Central Africa. Roadblocks, IPIS claims, have netted armed grou

“Everything that moves will be taxed”: the political economy of roadblocks in North and South Kivu (2017)
December 6, 2017IPIS puts roadblocks on the map as key mechanism of conflict funding besides natural resources, revealing its devastating scope in funding armed actors in Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic Mapping over a thousand roadblocks, IPIS shows the shocking extent of armed predation on trade routes in conflict-ridden Central Africa. Roadblocks, IPIS claims, have netted armed groups