UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Afr : Communications Workshop on Mining and Development

03/21/2016 | 09:42am US/Eastern

(Maseru, Lesotho). The African Union Commission and the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), with the support of technical partner UNDP Lesotho, will host a three day workshop introducing the African Mining Vision, and exploring techniques and approaches to communicating about mining and mining policies, both at the continental level and for Lesotho.

The mandate of AMDC, based at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)'s headquarters in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, has been to support member states to align their mining policy, legal and regulatory frameworks with the Africa Mining Vision. In this role, the AMDC has been proud to support the Lesotho government in its important work in developing a revised mining policy and bil (also known as a 'Country Mining Vision') over the last few years.

The Lesotho workshop is the first of a number of awareness-raising in-country workshops aimed at communication practitioners in countries who have expressed an interest in the CMV process during the course of 2016. The initiative is proudly supported by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ, which is strongly committed to assist in the implementation of the Africa Mining Vision.

The effective adoption of a new policy in a country should not - and must not - be restricted to politicians, lawmakers and technical departments: it requires awareness, support and interest from the broader host society to be truly successful. Recognising this need for broad-based support, the Lesotho workshop will gather local communication practitioners from local media, the private sector, government departments, think tanks and universities and civil society. Heightened local awareness of the Africa Mining Vision, Lesotho's Country Mining Vision process and the potential impact of mining on development is the expected outcome of the workshop, which will take place from Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 March 2016 at the AVANI Hotel (Hilton Road) in Maseru.

END Note for editors on the Africa Mining Vision: Formally adopted by African heads of state in 2009, the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) is the continent's own response to tackling the paradox of great mineral wealth existing side by side with pervasive poverty. Simply put, the AMV outlines the roadmap to the transparent, equitable and optimal exploitation of mineral resources to underpin broad-based sustainable growth and socio-economic development in Africa. For more information, please contact: Ms. Daisy Leoncio, Communications Officer for the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC), by email at dleoncio@uneca.org or visit www.africaminingvision.org

UNECA - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa issued this content on 14 March 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 March 2016 13:41:25 UTC

Original Document: http://www.uneca.org/stories/communications-workshop-mining-and-development