Global Rights, a leading global human rights Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) working in partnership with local activists in Africa, Asia, and Latin America to build grass roots movements that promote and protect the rights of marginalized populations has showered praises on Ghana for taking bold steps in ridding off illegal miners in the country.
According to the NGO, the government of Ghana's recent clampdown on illegal miners, particularly the foreign illegal ones, was a step in the right direction.
Global Rights' Country Director for West Africa, Mrs. Abiodun Baiyewu made the commendations in an interview with the Business Chronicle during a two-day awareness workshop on the Voluntary Principles (VPs) on security and human rights for members of NGOs and the media in Accra over the weekend.
She added: "Ghana has also exhibited transparency and a strong respect for human rights in this process. It has shown that Ghana is a country that greatly respects human rights and follows the rule of law and due process".
Mrs. Baiyewu was quick to state: "The government of Ghana has consistently shown foresight and the political will to ensure sustainable development in its extractive sector".
It could be recalled that most civil conflicts in West Africa started from illegal, and unregulated mining activities. With this in mind, Ghana is avoiding that hence the recent clampdown on illegal miners particularly the foreign illegal ones operating in the West African country.
Touching on the VPs, she noted that by signing onto the Voluntary Principles, the Ghanaian government would further demonstrate its commitment to sanitising its extractive industry and protects the extractive industry including gold, bauxite, diamond, and oil and gas host communities.
The Global Rights' Country Director for West Africa therefore appealed to her colleague civil society actors to encourage the government as it is "seriously considering signing onto the VPs".
On benefits of signing onto the VPs, Mrs. Baiyewu told this newspaper that it would ensure a shared security responsibility among all stakeholders, thereby ensuring greater security and respect for human rights in the extractive industry.
She also added: "It will create a comprehensive atmosphere for trade and investment in Ghana thereby boosting investor confidence. The VPs will further ensure constant dialogue among extractive host communities, the government, and the mining companies thereby ensuring that the interests of all stakeholders are protected".
The Executive Director of Livelihood and Environment Ghana (LEG), Richard Adjei-Poku added that "the workshop forms part of Global Rights and LEG two-year (2012-014) pilot in Ghana and Nigeria".
He said the aim of the workshop was to abreast the participants of the VPs, adding "The initiative is to address insecurity in the extractive industry. For instance, Shell invested over $2 billion on security services in Nigeria."
This huge amount could have used to undertake development projects in oil-rich communities operating by Shell, Mr. Adjei-Poku indicated.
The Consultant and facilitator of the workshop, Austin Onuoha explained that the VPs is a multi-stakeholder initiative involving governments, companies, and non-governmental organizations that promotes implementation of a set of principles that guide companies in the extractive industry on providing security for their operations in a manner that respects human rights.
Specifically, he stated that: "the Voluntary Principles guide companies in conducting a comprehensive human rights risk assessment in their engagement with public and private security providers to ensure the human rights of host communities are respected in the protection of company facilities and premises".
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