"You can't eat stones when the mine is gone ..."

"You can’t eat the stones when the mine is gone," said Scholla Warai Kakas at Papua New Guinea’s "Women in Mining" conference, attended by more than 140 women from mining areas around the country.

While more than a quarter of the country’s GDP comes from the mining sector, the industry has left a legacy of environmental damage and social upheaval that has particularly affected women.

Despite the clear challenges, Scholla Warai who is president of PNG’s National Council of Women, remained pragmatic. "We as women cannot deny the fact our country needs the money that mining brings," she said. "Although we have problems, we cannot kick the developers out. We have to find solutions in partnership with government, developers and women’s associations to solve the problems."

Over four days starting July 11th, participants at the PNG Department of Mining and World Bank-sponsored conference raised and debated the issues that worry women most. "How can we increase women’s participation in decision-making? How do we ensure we are part of the discussions about mine development and closure at the beginning of all projects? How can we ensure we benefit equally from the benefits flowing from mining?"

Regina Toropo, a women’s development officer for the Porgera Joint Venture – a 16-year-old gold mining project in the north of the country – called on the women living in mining and petroleum project areas to build on their skills as farmers and food producers and to be prepared for the day the mine is gone.

"When gold is gone, the people and the land will be left," she said. "Agriculture is the backbone of PNG and most Papua New Guineans know our land is there and we all go back to the land for food. Women are not used to gold, silver and oil. They’re used to plants and agriculture."

"Mining has a gender bias. The benefits such as employment and royalties tend to be captured by men."

At the first conference, the women developed a vision statement built around four themes that they saw as needing most attention, particularly from the government: health and education; economic empowerment; social empowerment; and safety and security.

Prominent Papua New Guinean Dame Meg Taylor – now based in Washington DC as Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman for the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency – attended both conferences and noticed a significant change in the women’s outlook since the first event. "There’s a real desire for women to take charge and responsibility for themselves and to be seriously part of the processes of mining and petroleum and not to be sidelined," she said.

Government, companies and international institutions were on notice that they could not treat women’s concerns as mere "add-ons," said Taylor."These are people with rights, who know their rights and now they’re speaking with a united voice."

He called on resource companies to take their social responsibilities seriously.

"I think there is indeed a business case to make for companies to be rewarded with tax advantages for engaging in special assistance to the environment and women and families," he said. "These are the two areas affected by the economic boom a mine brings into an area."

There is no doubt in the minds of people working in the administration of the mining sector in PNG that it’s women who will ensure a sustainable future for their communities.

"If you want sustainable development in PNG, you have to focus on women."

One conference participant who is taking an active role in her community’s development is Clara Fred – president of the Star Mountain Women’s Association. She has watched as her traditional homeland has been mined and gradually hauled off as part of the massive Ok Tedi copper and gold mining project in the far west of the country.

"The mountain is gone now so we don’t go out anymore looking for pandanus (palm) or animals. The culture is just fading away and that’s a sad thing. Our kids can hardly speak our traditional language anymore."

But now, she says, things are changing because women have recognised the importance of taking a central role in community development. Projects aimed at improving women’s literacy and building their understanding of microfinance and better gardening practices are underway. Women are part of village planning committees and they are being included in discussions about the mine’s future closure. Young women are also attending school, delaying marriage and attending family planning workshops.

"We want to emphasise that girls go to school and get a better education, be good contributors to the community, the province and the country," Clara Fred said. "I want to see mothers taking the lead, having a say in decision-making – just like the men do."

Mining companies in Papua New Guinea have gradually learned that taking an active role in community development makes good business sense. Most new mining projects factor women and community development into their overall planning while more established mines, such as Ok Tedi, have assumed a role as the major health provider in the area.

Monica Rau of the Ok Tedi Community Relations Department described how the company – which covers an area that takes in 30,000 people, 154 villages and 20 different language groups – provides medical teams who visit remote villages to immunise children and treat patients, some of whom suffer from illnesses no longer existing in other parts of the world. She said the company hospital in Tabubil functions as a district health service by default with 89 staff and 1,700 patients per month.

While companies are taking a more active role in supporting women’s activities, more and more women are taking action themselves. The Porgera Women’s Association, for example, which was registered in1995 today supports 65 sub-groups undertaking micro-credit programs and literacy projects and supporting subsistence agriculture and environmental projects.

Women’s microfinance projects are making a big impact in mining communities across PNG. Lydia Gah-Bell, a micro-finance trainer who has recently visited three major mining areas under a World Bank-funded sustainable development training project, said PNG women have embraced the microfinance concept. "Women now own outboard motors and sewing machines, they are in control of their own money and they have spending power to pay for their kids’ school fees every year," she told the conference.

On the final day of the conference, a quiet revolution took place. The women from mining communities called for a radical departure from the agenda and a change of language from English to Tok Pisin – or pidgin. This allowed them to more comfortably air their concerns about the lack of progress on the vision statement that they’d help prepare two years earlier. The assembled PNG government representatives listened to their pleas for action attentively. By the end of the day, there was joint agreement on developing a five-year, national action plan that will see community and government working together to improve the lot of women in mining areas.

Closing the conference, Dame Meg Taylor said she had been greatly moved and inspired by what she had seen develop from the floor. "This is what’s needed if mining is to deliver long-lasting improvements for women – not just while the mine is operating but well after it closes."

The two Madang Conferences on Women and Mining were organized with the support of several different agencies including the Energy Sector Management AssistanceProgram (ESMAP), Norwegian-Dutch Trust Fund for Mainstreaming Gender (GENFUND), AusAID and several of the mining companies operating in Papua New Guinea.