The discovery of oil has heralded a new economic, social, political and environmental dawn for Uganda.. According to the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department, Uganda’s oil reserves are expected to yield US 12billion a year which would put the country among the foremost of African oil producers. The country has been described as Africa’s hottest inland exploration frontier. With all these expected benefits, it is imperative that both men and women benefit equally from the proceeds of oil exploration and exploitation.
Uganda’s national laws and policies recognize the need for gender equality. In addition, Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals stresses the importance of mainstreaming gender in all aspects of development. Women play a variety of crucial roles in the Extractives Industry (EI). From participating in the mineral exploration, to processing, owning mining sites and equipment to buying and selling to agents. However, at the recent regional Sharefair for Women in Extractives held in Nairobi , it emerged that there exists a gender bias in the distribution of risks, costs and benefits of the EI. This trend, if not checked, could widen the gender gaps in access to resources and opportunities that come with these resources. The three day sharefair was organized by UN Women under the theme: Gender Equality in the Extractive Industries: Building on Good Practices. The sharefair brought together women miners, researchers, civil society, academia, UN as well as government representatives in the mining sector from across Africa and beyond. Speakers shared vastly on the challenges, opportunities as well as success stories of women in the EI. Here are some lessons I picked on how to ensure that the discovery of oil in Uganda benefits people of all genders:
Gender sensitive Laws
From the sharefair, it emerged that laws and policies governing the EI in majority of African countries, are gender blind. In Uganda, only two provisions in the 2012 Upstream Act are concerned with gender. There is need for gender sensitive laws in the extractives sector. These laws should recognize the role women play from the exploration stage and throughout the operations lifecycle of mineral extraction. The Ugandan government needs to ensure that laws and policies governing the EI sector support men and women to have equal access to all consultation, negotiations and benefit sharing. Mining companies on their part need to into their internal and external policies and services to address current inequalities.
More Women in Decision Making Positions
Gender mainstreaming in the EI requires concerted efforts from governments, leaders, civil society, mining companies men and women. The involvement of women in decision making is particularly important as they face a myriad of challenges ranging from harassment, gender-based violence to extreme cases of resource based violence. Some of the participants at the sharefair expressed concern that while women bear most of the costs, including family disruption and environmental degradation, they are rarely involved at decision making levels. That in most cases women are assigned non-executive roles which leaves them out of important decision making processes. This could explain why most policies are gender blind as there are very few women engaged during the policy formulation process. For Uganda’s EI to thrive, women need to be actively involved in all aspects of the mineral exploration and extraction, moreso the decision making processes. This could easily be achieved if governments and mining companies set up a quota system that facilitates promotion of women into decision making and leadership roles in EI sector.
GenderSensitive Technology
Technology has no doubt made life easier by reducing the time and cost spent on tasks. During the sharefair, participants agreed that embracing technology in EI would go a long way in helping maximize production while minimizing costs.
My biggest takeaway from the sharefair was that the cry for affirmative action must be accompanied by academic qualifications; that even as we demand equality, as women we need to arm ourselves with the right academic qualifications that will facilitate our all rounded participation in the EI sector.
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