Implementation

The regional German cooperation program with the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region is headquartered in Bujumbura. The joint BGR-GIZ program is active in several countries under the overall framework of the ICGLR Regional Initiative on Natural Resources. The BGR contribution to the program centers on two components, (1) introducing and transferring AFP technology and management capacity into the Great Lakes region, and (2) supporting ASM formalization and mineral certification in Rwanda and Burundi. More background on the project is available here and information on the AFP Management Unit is found here.

From 2012 to 2015, BGR support under the regional cooperation program in Burundi included:

• Due diligence outreach: Facilitating a peer exchange visit by a Burundian multi-stakeholder mining sector delegation to Rwanda to discuss practical aspects of mineral traceability and due diligence implementation, as well as organization of a series of multi-stakeholder workshops in Bujumbura and provincial capitals to sensitize stakeholders on the basics and links between supply chain due diligence, mineral certification and traceability, both in the 3T and gold subsectors;
• Support to RCM mine inspections to be performed by the Ministry of Energy and Mines’ Direction Générale de la Géologie et des Mines (DGGM) – BGR supported both, development of a national mine inspection form in line with RCM standards, training courses and on-the-job training, as well as pilot mine inspections and sensitizing work done by DGGM inspectors;
• Logistical support to partner counterparts (government and private sector) presenting at international due diligence fora (e.g., OECD, CFSI, PPA);
• Establishing a petrographic laboratory at the DGGM to allow preparation of mineral concentrates for AFP analysis and general scientific investigations of rock samples.