Ministry commits to support women miners
THE Ministry of Minerals has reaffirmed its commitment to support women in the industry, by exposing them to a number of investment opportunities, capital and trading.
Deputy Minister for Minerals, Mr Stephen Kiruswa advised women miners to join their professional association like Federation of Miners Association of Tanzania (FEMATA) and Tanzania Women Miners Association (TAWOMA) for easy coordination.
Mr Kiruswa said the ministry is committed to promote women’s economic empowerment by providing tailored business and life skills training to female miner entrepreneurs.
“We want to see increased women’s contribution in the mining sector revenue generation by giving them opportunities available and participating in value chain activities,” Deputy Minister Kiruswa told the Parliament yesterday.
The deputy minister gave the explanation in the National Assembly when responding to a question by Zaytun Swai (Special Seats, CCM) on means being applied by the government to increase the women’s activities in the mining sector.
He added that the government is empowering women through their respective associations so he urged them to register for the union so that they benefit from the opportunities availed to them.
Mr Kiruswa said it is easy to support them through their organisations such as Tanzania Women in Mining and Mineral Industry (TWIMMI) to ensure that
they are in a conducive working environment and empowerment undertakings.
The government has constructed mineral centres through the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project which among other objectives is to empower small scale miners and women miners.
The centres have been empowering the women miners with the best skills and knowledge to improve their mining capacity as well as mineral processing means to add value to their products and improve their economic wellbeing.
The centres apply the intermediate and appropriate technology in mineral processing which are environmentally friendly as well as offer geological training especially in the area of mineral research.
