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HRW Submission to the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)

December 2014

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to review the draft IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining. Below are recommendations based on research conducted by Human Rights Watch in various countries. Human Rights Watch has carried out extensive research…
News

Time to Get Children Out Of the Hazardous Supply Chain

Many multinational companies now ban children from working in their operations, but child labor is still a central issue for them. In the globalized economy, products have long and complex supply chains, often reaching down to a multitude of small, local…
News

World Health Assembly: Pledge to Act on Mercury

Ministers Should Endorse, Implement Minamata Convention

(Geneva) – Health ministers should pledge to take comprehensive action to prevent and treat the negative health effects of mercury, a toxic chemical, Human Rights Watch said today. The World Health Assembly is scheduled to discuss a resolution on the new…
News

Mercury Convention "Must Be Brought to Life"

The New International Convention on the Highly Toxic Metal Mercury Could, Despite Some Flaws, Be a Huge Step Forward in Protecting the Right to Health This weekend, more than 140 governments agreed on the text for a new legally binding convention on…
News

Mercury Treaty: Last Chance to Address Health Effects

In Final Talks, Western Governments Should Agree to Include Prevention, Treatment

A proposed international treaty to address the damaging effects of mercury should include specific provisions to protect the health of children and other vulnerable populations, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments are to meet in Geneva beginning…
News

Mercury Treaty: Ban Mercury Use by Child Gold Miners

Public Health Strategies Needed in Treaty to Address Toxic Threat

(Punta del Este, Uruguay) – Negotiations for an international treaty to limit the use of mercury should seek to protect the health rights of artisanal gold mining communities, Human Rights Watch said today, in advance of a new round of meetings on the…
News

Gold’s image tarnished by child labour in mines

GOLD has always fascinated. In times of crisis such as ours, it offers hope for stability, security, and happiness. In our Christmas candle-lit shopping malls, it conjures images of glamour and festiveness. But for about a million children working in gold…
Report

A Poisonous Mix

A Poisonous Mix Child Labor, Mercury, and Artisanal Gold Mining in Mali Regional Maps Summary Key Recommendations Methodology I. The Context: Gold Mining in Mali…
News

Mali: Artisanal Mines Produce Gold With Child Labor

Hazardous Work, Mercury Poisoning, and Disease

UPDATE: For the report, “A Poisonous Mix: Child Labor, Mercury, and Artisanal Gold Mining in Mali,” Human Rights Watch reprinted a government list that named “Kaloute Hong Kong” as buying gold from Mali’s artisanal mines.  However, Kaloti Jewellery…