2023 State of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector

Overview & Synopsis

The pace of gender-related legal reforms is also slowing with economies in 2022 adopting the fewest gender-related reforms in more than two decades. The World Bank’s forthcoming Gender Strategy 2024–2030 recognizes the urgent imperative to accelerate gender equality for a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive future. The 2023 State of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) Sector report takes up this call to action to examine whether and how legal frameworks inhibit or promote women’s equality and empowerment in ASM, along with analyzing several other key barriers to women’s participation and empowerment in the sector including social protections and access to occupational health and safety (OHS). The report finds that while considerable work remains to get back on track to achieve SDG 5 by 2030, gains are being made through women-focused initiatives advancing the development of the ASM sector.