No Golden Future Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda Irene Schipper & Esther de Haan & Stephen Turyahikayo April 2016 Colophon No Golden Future Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda April 2016 Authors: Irene Schipper & Esther de Haan Commisioned by: (SOMO) and Stephen Turyahikayo (CRSS) Layout: Frans Schupp Cover photo: Irene Schipper Photos: Irene Schipper, Stephen Stop Child Labour Turyahikayo, Esther de Haan ISBN: 978-94-6207-099-8 Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Centre for Research and Sustainable Ondernemingen Solutions (CRSS) Centre for Research on Multinational PO Box 257 – Entebbe, Uganda Corporations Center for Research and Sustainable Sarphatistraat 30 Solutions (CRSS) is a not-for-profit organisa- 1018 GL Amsterdam, The Netherlands tion based in Uganda. The CRSS consultant T: +31 (0)20 639 12 91 team on this study has more than eight F: +31 (0)20 639 13 21 years’ experience working with artisanal [email protected] – www.somo.nl and small-scale gold miners in Uganda. In The Centre for Research on Multinational addition, the team has more than five Corporations (SOMO) is an independent, years’ experience on conflict minerals not-for-profit research and network organi- initiatives in the great lakes region and has sation working on social, ecological and supported the implementation of Interna- economic issues related to sustainable tional Conference on the Great Lakes development. Since 1973, the organisation Region (ICGLR) regional initiative against investigates multinational corporations illegal exploitation of natural resources and and the consequences of their activities Organisation for Economic Co-operation for people and the environment around and Development (OECD) Due Diligence the world. Guidance. The content of this report is the sole responsibility of SOMO. No Golden Future Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda SOMO Irene Schipper & Esther de Haan (SOMO) and Stephen Turyahikayo (CRSS) Amsterdam, April 2016 No Golden Future – Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda Contents Summary ............................................................................................................... 5 1 Introduction .....................................................................................................11 1.1 Context ................................................................................................... 11 1.2 Methodology ............................................................................................ 11 2 Country background ...........................................................................................14 2.1 Economy .................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Education ................................................................................................. 15 2.3 Child labour .............................................................................................. 16 3 Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Uganda .......................................................19 3.1 The number of artisanal gold miners ................................................................ 19 3.2 Production figures ....................................................................................... 20 3.3 Gold export .............................................................................................. 22 4 Child labour in Uganda: Mubende gold mining .........................................................25 4.1 Gold mining in Mubende .............................................................................. 25 4.2 Field Research ........................................................................................... 26 4.3 Occupational safety and health ....................................................................... 37 4.4 The local gold supply chain ........................................................................... 42 4.5 Gold smuggling out of Uganda ....................................................................... 43 5 Government frameworks and other initiatives ..........................................................46 5.1 The legal framework on mining ....................................................................... 46 5.2 Uganda’s legal framework for responding to child labour ....................................... 47 5.3 Initiatives on artisanal mining ......................................................................... 48 5.4 Initiatives on child labour .............................................................................. 50 6 Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................52 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 53 Annex 1 List of Licensed Gold Dealers as of December 2015 ..............................................55 2 No Golden Future – Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda Acronyms ASM Artisanal and small-scale mining ASMO Artisanal and small-scale mining organisation CAO Chief Administrative Officer CRSS Center for Research and Sustainable Solutions CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DGSM Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines ECO Ecological Christian Organisation Uganda GDP Gross domestic product GoU Government of Uganda ICGLR International Conference on the Great Lakes Region OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development MEMD Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development MoGLSD Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development NGO Non-governmental organisation RCM Regional Certification Mechanism SCL Stop Child Labour Coalition SMMRP Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project SOMO Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations UAE United Arab Emirates UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics UN GoE UN Group of Experts UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund UPE Universal Primary Education URA Uganda Revenue Authority 3 No Golden Future – Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda Figure 1: Gold mining districts in Uganda South Sudan Uganda Rupa Moroto Democratic Republic of Congo Lake Albert Hoima Bugiri Mubende Kampala Mayuge Busia Namayingo Buhweju Busheny Kanunga Rukungiri Lake Victoria Kisoro Kabale Rwanda Tanzania Most important gold mining districts 4 No Golden Future – Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda Summary Child Labour in gold mining in Uganda Child labour is a significant social and economic problem in Uganda. The combination of an extremely young population, large numbers of vulnerable children and orphans, high levels of child poverty and a failing education system has pushed 51 per cent of all children aged between 5 and 17 into work. Across the country, more than one in four children (26 per cent) are defined as child labourers. A large number of children work in Uganda’s gold mines. Researchers working on this report estimate that there are about 50,000 artisanal gold miners in Uganda – roughly 20 to 30 per cent of these are children. These estimates mean that 10,000 to 15,000 children are working alongside adults as artisanal gold miners. Part of these children still attend primary school periodically, as well as working in the mines. However, the research shows that very few of the children go on to secondary school. Researchers found that school-going children work during the school holidays and at the weekends, while the children that have already dropped out of school work on the mining sites throughout the year. The field study for this report took place during the school holidays. Researchers visited three mining sites in the Mubende District of Uganda. They observed that 70 to 80 per cent of the workers in the area where gold is washed (or ‘panned’) were children. In total the researchers saw around 1,000 to 1,200 children working on the three visited sites. They interviewed 52 children aged between 7 and 17 - 20 per cent of these interviewees was working full time and not attending school. Labour conditions The washing of the ground gold ore is typically done by children. They concentrate the ore using sluices or they pan the ore, standing in ponds. Children buy bags of ore themselves or they are hired by other miners to wash ore, but mostly they concentrate gold out of tailings – leftover materials. When working for themselves, they sell their gold to a buyer on the mining site. The children who still attend school work in the mine at the weekends and during holidays. During the holidays, they typically work five or six days per week, often starting work at around 7 am and finishing between 3 pm and 6 pm in the afternoon. Among the ten interviewees who had dropped out of school, hours are also long – they generally work six days per week for up to 11 hours per day. The children earn relatively small amounts for these long hours of arduous work. The younger children (between 7 and 13) mention that, although they find gold every day, this could be as little as 0.05 grams and not often more than 0.1 grams. For this quantity they earn €1.09 to €2.31 per day (with the costs for the mercury already deducted). 5 No Golden Future – Use of child labour in gold mining in Uganda Mercury is an important part of the process when it comes to washing gold. Researchers observed that children who wash the ore are concentrating the gold with mercury and come into direct contact with mercury on a regular basis. They rub the mercury