Australian Envoy Backs Expanded Support for Nigerian Artisanal Women Miners

The Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Leilani Bin-Juda, has called for stronger support for women working in Nigeria’s artisanal mining sector after a visit to the Indigenous Women in Mining and Natural Resources Organisation (NIWIMNRO) in Abuja.

During the visit, Bin-Juda said the realities faced by women in mining communities are severe and require sustained intervention from stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners and sector operators.

She said she reached that view after watching a documentary presented by NIWIMNRO, which highlighted daily risks and difficult working conditions faced by women miners.

"The struggles that these women, particularly, have to undergo are unbelievable," she said.

NIWIMNRO is a non-profit organisation that focuses on improving the socio-economic conditions of Indigenous women involved in artisanal and small-scale mining across Nigeria.

The envoy was received by NIWIMNRO’s Chief Executive Officer, Dapo Olorunyomi; board member Fatimah Maikore; Executive Director Felicia Dairo; Research and Grant Officer Taiwo Ojo; Project Officer Chiamaka Ozurumba; Communications Lead Adeiza Sanni; and intern Christopher Miri.

The organisation said women account for about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 700,000 artisanal miners. Many of them work at surface level, digging for gold and iron ore with bare hands and feet, and often without protective equipment.

NIWIMNRO also said exposure to hazardous substances, including mercury, remains a major health concern in several mining locations.

Project Officer Chiamaka Ozurumba said these conditions were among the reasons the organisation was established.

"NIWIMNRO exists because we have noticed that women, especially artisan women who contribute significantly to the economy, have been strategically excluded from benefiting from everything that comes from it," she said.

She said the organisation is implementing a nine-point strategy that covers access to resources, value-chain integration, data collection, documentation, research, community development, policy advocacy, training and gender inclusion.

According to her, NIWIMNRO uses field visits and direct conversations with miners to guide interventions.

"Everything we do is informed by evidence-based research," she said, adding that the group does not design programmes without on-ground verification.

The organisation said it has already trained 20 women from Niger State, Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory.

Executive Director Felicia Dairo said trainees have gone on to share what they learned with other women miners in their communities, extending the impact beyond the initial participants.

Dairo said NIWIMNRO is now planning to expand to additional states while carrying out needs assessments to better understand local challenges and tailor future training.

"That would help inform the kind of training, and capacity building we provide for them," she said. "We’ll be speaking with partners and relevant government bodies to identify more specific issues affecting the women."

CEO Dapo Olorunyomi said NIWIMNRO’s broader goal is to restore recognition of women’s contribution to development and to the mining economy in particular.

"What we try to do with NIWINRO is to centre our engagement in the role of women in the development of Africa," he said. "It revalues the very important, very consequential role women play in the mining economy."

Bin-Juda commended the group’s direction and said measurable outcomes will be important as the programme scales. She urged the organisation to keep clear baseline and impact records.

"You need bottom-line figures," she said. "From when to when did you collect the data? How many women were impacted? That is absolutely key to your deliverables." She said stronger data would help partners track outcomes over time and support wider programme expansion.