The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
THE Association of Women in Mining in Africa (AWIMA) in partnership with Levin Sources has set up a jewellery design competition aimed at unearthing and rewarding emerging talent in Africa.
The development comes after they got a US$50 000 funding from the World Bank’s Extractives Global Programmatic Support (EGPS). AWIMA jewellery project manager, Miss Zo Harimalala said the first-time competition aims to empower and celebrate African women and the winning design was to be manufactured by African jewellers, using materials sourced from local miners.
“With a grant of US$50 000 from the World Bank, there will be two winners in this competition with a winner from the judges and a winner from the popular vote, the cash prizes for the competition are US$3 500 and US$500 respectively.
“The competition aims to celebrate the courage and resilience of African women in mining and demonstrably showcase and partner the efforts of women in mining with fellow African women designers and jewellers,” said Miss Harimalala.
She also noted that the competition running under the theme, ‘A symbol of solidarity to unify and pay tribute to African women in the mining sector’ is a way for AWIMA to showcase the capability of making it local and to give a business opportunity to talented and professional African women. Also, all entries were to be submitted online by 30 January 2021.
Miss Harimalala highlighted that part of the revenue from the sales of the jewellery will fund development projects to support women in mining.
She added: “AWIMA’s long term vision is to create AWIMA jewellery line, and this competition is a starting point. The project aims at collecting information on the supply chain and come up with a viable business model. African women are breaking cultural, organisational and economic barriers in the heavily male and masculine mining industry.”
Miss Harimalala said in the jewellery industry women were starting to own mines, work in mines, supply goods to mines, and act as traders and buyers, gem cutters, jewellery designers, and jewellery makers running their own enterprises.
She however, said that it was more often in an environment where there are inadequate policies and poor government oversight, lack of finance, inappropriate mining equipment, limited access to international markets and traditions and cultures that discourage women’s participation; while women still contend with primary responsibility for domestic and family affairs.
“These inequalities have been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which has spotlighted that African women are bold, courageous and resilient even in the face of health and safety concerns including sexual harassment, gender-based violence, the absence of protective wear, and discrimination,” added Miss Harimalala.
As a women empowerment organisation, she also noted that their aim was to connect African women across the continent, to capture and share the opportunity equitably along the value chain.
She further stated: “Funds raised from the sale of the jewellery will go towards projects that improve the health and safety of women in mining.
“The project builds on the increasing demand for ethical products resulting from responsible supply chains and is aligned with and is delivering on the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Mining Vision, and is responding to the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.”
Miss Harimalala urged applicants to submit a brooch design with design elements that celebrate inspirational women, evoke pride and feature symbols of strength and resilience.
She said the brooch should also be designed for consumers who care about supporting women, allowing them to express their commitment and support to women in mining.
