BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
A two-day workshop on the agenda, resource owners, mining and media advocacy, was successfully concluded yesterday at the St Barnabas Cathedral leaf hut in Honiara.
The key facilitators of the workshop include Development Services Exchange (DSE), Apunepara Ha’amwa’ora Natural Resources Association (ANHRA), Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) and YLASI.
On day one, Thursday, 11, resource owners were educated to understand the mining context, rights and legal framework and the introduction of the Mining toolkit.
The toolkit project is a collaboration between ICAAD (International Centre for Advocates Against Discrimination), the Development Services Exchange (DSE), Apunepara Ha’amwa’ora Natural Resources Association (AHRNA), and a CBO from Lauru/Choiseul Province, supported by funding from the Earth Rising Foundation.
The workshop ended yesterday, with resource owners being educated on how to use media for advocacy when it comes to extractive industries such as mining and logging.
Speaking to Island Sun yesterday, Facilitator Graham Tahu acknowledged the participants and believed that they would utilise what they learn during the workshop in their various communities.
“Now that the worksjop comes to an end, one thing we see and look forward to is that these people have learn something and can organise meetings or awareness for their people to understand the way this industry works and to make informed decisions,” he said.
Mr Tahu also acknowledged the role of the media in advocating when it comes to extractive industries like mining.
“One role we believe the media plays is raising community voices, whether to advocate against or support them. But the media plays a huge role in terms of advocacy by bringing community voices to the national level, informing leaders about how people think about this industry,” he said.
“The other action we decided to do after this workshop is to submit some of the important points we raised during the workshop to contribute to the new mineral bill. We see this as an important opportunity for the community to have their say,” he said.
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