The Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS) Trust launched an emergency
window to respond to on-going impacts from the COVID pandemic on artisanal and
small-scale mining communities across the globe.
EGPS aims to provide short-term
and medium-term assistance to artisanal mining communities, and their
associated value chains, to cope with COVID-19 related impacts. Activities will
comprise but not be limited to the following categories:
- Economic
- Social
- Environmental
- Health
and safety
The World Bank sees two
main categories of impact emerging from the present COVID crisis:-
- Direct impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on mining
communities
The overarching dynamics
that drive the impacts on the ground are an increasingly severe health crisis,
a massive loss of formal and informal jobs in urban areas and as a consequence
a vast migration from cities back to rural areas.
- Indirect impacts
Apart from the direct
impact of the COVID-19 crisis on mining communities, there will be an impact
caused by the government responses to contain COVID-19. Governments around the
world seeking to contain the virus’ spread and constraining mobility translates
into trade disruptions that will likely cause loss of markets and severely
affect local economies.
Funding Information
- Small
grants will be for under $50,000.
- Medium
grants will be for between $50,000 and $300,000.
- 40%
of successful applicants must be women-led or women-majority organizations
working in ASM areas.
Eligible locations
Any geography where
artisanal mining takes place is eligible. If a local entity is submitting a
grant proposal to the fund, sponsorship by an entity known to the World Bank’s
administration is required. Each grant must be capable of performing monitoring
of activities –whether through web-enabled platforms and tools, or through site
visits, should conditions in the country allow for this.
Post Date - 27-Jul-2020