Social Services in Mining Areas!

Social Services in Mining Area! How is it in your area?

Meet the Two Leaders of Tanzania Women Miners Association

Martha Bitwale: The  former  Chairperson of Tanzania Women Miners Association:

She is a long time activist of rights of Women miners.  Her passion on women's rights and the struggles to organize women in mining to advance in the mining sector is known among most women miners in Tanzania. She is a witness of the transformation in mining sector and how it accommodates women in Tanzania. Her story as a woman miner, leader, a mother, an activist, business woman and her passion to engage and organize other women in the sector has contributed a lot to the women in mining struggles today. She is calling for the "Re-Focus" on the priorities of women in Mining Tanzania.

Eunice Negele: The Chairperson of Tanzania  Women Miners Association

She is woman miner based in Tanga Region, the activist, a mother  and  Leader. She works with more than 400 women in 11 districts of Tanzania to advocate for the rights of women miners and women living in mining areas.

The election for the new chairperson will be held this year. TAWOMA needs a feminist leader, who holds the deepest of values for justice and equality. This leader will need to work with women in two levels; supporting  women miners to build self consciousness and self esteem so that they understand and stay  on top of their challenging context (2) Linking women miners and women in mining with different resources, networks, struggles and movement so that they effect change.

Who will be the next?

Let Ban Ki-moon know you want human rights in the Sustainable Development Goals

The Mining Working Group at the UN and the Blue Planet Project have spearheaded a recent sign-on letter on the need for the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals to include an explicit mention of the need to guarantee the human right to water and sanitation. The letter has garnered more than 300 sign-ons – we thank you for your support and for your advocacy efforts to join this important fight.

Despite our call, the latest “zero draft” of the SDGs text (30 June, 2014) has failed to include explicit mention of the human right to water and sanitation. Time is running out to influence the Open Working Group, as its 13^th and last official session will be held July 14-18, with informals preceding it starting July 9. It is therefore essential that we unite in one last push to include the human rights language in the OWG report, particularly around the human right to water and sanitation.
As a final step, we encourage you and your organizations to write to the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, through the online petition available [English] [Spanish]. In this pivotal moment, we must show the UN that we have not given up on human rights in the SDGs, and that they must ensure the inclusion of this language to ensure that the SDGS, and the post-2015 agenda, truly deliver for people’s human rights and the sanctity of our planet.

Thank you for your support.

Click the link below to sign the petition

http://www.blueplanetproject.net/index.php/let-ban-ki-moon-know-you-want-human-rights-in-the-sdgs/

We Are Not ANGRY Enough!

I am a woman, and i am a feminist! i work with women  from mining communities in Tanzania and i am angry. In the past few days i have been assessing myself if i am angry enough to effect change, i do not have a clear answer yet... i am still reflecting.

I have been talking with women i work with about different issues in mining sector in Tanzania, and my observation is... Women are not angry enough.  Most of them would say "The state is very powerful and we cannot change, or the mining companies have BIG money and any other loads of excuses, but if we were angry, very angry, and very constructively angry, we would look forwad and continue with questioning  the POWER.

The power that give the same mining corporations our resources and remain silent when they abuse us.  The power that use our money, our bodies, our resources, our children, our families and manipulate our economy for their own benefit.

We are POLITELY angry, and being politely angry will not bring the change we want.We need to re- direct our anger towards the system. for the cause we have been believing in. JUSTICE and EQUALITY. We have done our fair share of protecting our land, and natural resources, and environment, and our bodies, and our economy and so many more you can name the rest,  but we need to do more, go further than looking at our being women or men but shaming those who stand on our way!

Lets be angry enough to change what is not right!