Mapping of artisanal mining sites in western Mambasa, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo
October 27, 2023The western part of Mambasa territory, in Ituri province, has been overlooked by national authorities and international partners. This despite major expansions of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) operations, including in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve (OWR). These mining operations have caused tensions between native inhabitants, miners, armed actors, officials and conservationists. Se
Securing insecurity: Semi-industrial gold mining and violence in Mwenga, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
October 5, 2023Since 2011, gradual introduction of novel mining equipment such as crushing mills has led to the increasing mechanization of artisanal gold mining operations in Mwenga territory (South Kivu), including the arrival of semi-industrial mining companies. This report is part of a USAID-funded project examining the linkage between armed conflict, insecurity and natural resource exploitation in the easte
Armed groups, territorial control, land disputes, and gold exploitation in Djugu, Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo
August 10, 2023In late 2017, almost fifteen years after the end of the second Congo war, and after several years of relative peaceful coexistence, inter-communal tensions flared up once again in Ituri province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In December 2017, isolated violent incidents between members of the Hema and Lendu communities provoked an escalation and heralded the beginning of a new cyc
Sharing the results of two years of research into eastern DR Congo’s artisanal mining sector
July 12, 2023Since 2021 and in partnership with USAID and the Congolese Ministry of Mines (through its technical service SAEMAPE), IPIS has been undertaking a large-scale project to map and analyse artisanal mining supply chains and conflict financing dynamics in eastern DRC. A restitution meeting was held in Goma (North Kivu) on June 21st, 2023 to present and discuss the results produced over the past two yea
Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) in the DRC: Midline results of a pilot study in an artisanal mining zone in Maniema province
June 19, 2023In October 2021, the Belgian non-profit organization Eight World, started a pilot project of Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) in a village in an artisanal mining zone in the territory of Pangi, in Maniema Province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Eight World transfers cash directly to individual beneficiaries via a mobile money system. Each adult living in the UCT village receives 20
Taxes and levies in the artisanal mining sites of South Kivu and Ituri: How much does an artisanal miner pay?
April 14, 2023This report is the result of a large-scale field study on taxation in the artisanal mining sector in the eastern Congolese provinces of Ituri and South Kivu. The main finding is that current regulations and practices in the field not only cause mineral smuggling, which leaves some of the sector’s fiscal potential untapped at the provincial and national levels, but also constitute a source of insec
Kufatilia désormais actif dans la province du Lualaba, République Démocratique du Congo
March 15, 2023Après une mise en œuvre réussie dans les provinces productrices de 3TG du Nord-Kivu, du Sud-Kivu, de l’Ituri, et du Haut-Uele, IPIS étend son système de signalement et de suivi des incidents Kufatilia à la province du Lualaba, riche en cobalt.
Kufatilia is now active in the cobalt-producing province of Lualaba, in the Democratic Republic of Congo
March 15, 2023After a successful implementation in the 3TG-producing provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri, and Haut-Uele, IPIS is expanding its incident reporting and monitoring system Kufatilia to the cobalt-rich province of Lualaba.
Armed conflict, insecurity, and mining in eastern DRC: reflections on the nexus between natural resources and armed conflict
December 7, 2022download the report This report offers a new framework for looking at the eastern Congo conflict, one within which new evolutions of the past twenty years find a place. Indeed, violent conflict in eastern Congo has changed dramatically in all its aspects over the past two decades. Yet too often policymakers and observers appear to assume that we are dealing with a proxy war orchestrated from the D
Analysis of the interactive map of artisanal mining areas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo – 2022 update
November 29, 2022In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector plays an important role in the local economy. While large-scale armed conflict over DRC’s mineral wealth has decreased significantly over the past twenty years, armed actors continuously interfere in the mining sector, and conflicts over resources at the local level are still common. Based on new minin
Feedback session: Sharing the results of the data collected in Walungu, South Kivu
November 18, 2022Since 2021, IPIS undertakes another large-scale mapping effort of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), – in partnership with USAID and the Congolese Ministry of Mines (through its technical service SAEMAPE). The project aims to provide observers, supply chain actors and policymakers with reliable data to understand artisanal mineral
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
Empowering Tanzanian communities and civil society to foster justice & human rights in natural resource governance
September 20, 2022In Tanzania, the country’s natural resource wealth is considered a key driver of development. Despite this potential for “doing good”, natural resource extraction has so far yielded little of the promised benefits to local populations. In fact, the narrow economic focus on resource governance in combination with reduced civic space and respect for human rights in the country tend to worsen the vul
New 5-year project aiming to empower communities and civil society to foster justice and human rights in Tanzania’s natural resource sector
September 16, 2022In 2022, IPIS launched new work on the human rights impact of the natural resource sector in Tanzania. Our new five-year project “Empowering Tanzanian communities and civil society to foster justice & human rights in natural resource governance” builds on the expertise IPIS has been developing on northern Tanzania’s small- and large-scale mining sector as well as the implementation and monitor
Responsible mining scorecard in eastern DRC
August 31, 2022Over the years, IPIS has systematically collected mine site and trade hub level data on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in eastern DRC. This data collection has enabled IPIS to generate a sizable database of more than 3,000 ASM sites that draws both on sites visited by IPIS and data from third party sources including the Congolese mining cadastre and the Mini
Maps of artisanal and small-scale mining in eastern DRC
July 4, 2022IPIS has created large format maps of known past and present ASM sites in eastern DRC. These A0 maps cover the provinces of Haut Uele, Maniema, Ituri and North and South Kivu. Each map details the type of minerals, the qualification status by official authorities, the mining titles and provide with an overview of armed presence in and around the mines as reported during field visits conducted by I
Feedback session: Sharing the results of the data collected in Shabunda
May 19, 2022Since 2021, IPIS undertakes another large-scale mapping effort of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sites in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), – in partnership with USAID and the Congolese Ministry of Mines (through its technical service SAEMAPE). The project aims to provide observers, supply chain actors and policymakers with reliable data to understand artisanal mineral
Grassroots research on local diamond mining impact
March 1, 2022During 2021, IPIS supported members of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition (KP CSC) in a series of grassroots studies on the human rights, socio-economic and environmental impact of diamond mining in eight African countries. IPIS provided online trainings on field survey methodology as well as editorial support to ten civil society organisations who carried out independent field res
Unconditional cash transfers in the DRC: A comparative baseline study in an artisanal mining zone in Maniema Province
March 1, 2022A controlled impact study will be conducted by IPIS to evaluate the net effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers (UCT) on the socio-economic well-being of recipients. A controlled study approach allows potential effects of the intervention to be assessed by monitoring specific indicators in the group of people receiving cash transfers (inhabitants of the UCT village), in comparison with a comparabl
Analysing the Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers in an Artisanal Mining Zone in Maniema Province, DRC
March 1, 2022Building on previous experience in Uganda, the Belgian organisation Eight World vzw started in October 2021, an Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) pilot project in a village in an artisanal mining zone in Maniema province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the coming years, more villages in that region will be added to this UCT program.Eight World transfers cash directly to individu
