Member States representatives at the The 28th Meeting of the ICGLR Regional Committee against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources held in Kigali, April, 2024.
The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) regional committee on the fight against the illegal exploitation of natural resources has recommended new ways to implement its objective of curbing illegal activities in the region.
The recommendations come following the three-day hybrid meeting of the 28th Regional Committee held in Kigali from 22 – 24 April 2024, which was officiated by Eng. Estanislau Buio, the Chairperson of the Regional Committee and attracting member states participation in person and online.
The Regional Committee against the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources is a vital organ of the ICGLR, established by the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.
While opening the meeting, Eng. Buio called upon members of the Committee to work towards strengthening conflict prevention mechanisms in the Great Lakes region.
The committee report recommended that in order to strengthen the credibility of the ICGLR Certificate on all minerals coming from the region, member states are encouraged to put in place mechanisms to avoid exports of uncertified 3TG (tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold) consignments.
The Regional Certification Mechanism (RCM) is being implementing by five Member States: Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo and Burundi which are issuing ICGLR Certificate on 3T mineral exports and some are even issuing ICGLR Certificate on gold exports.
Rwanda has also specifically fully implemented the ICGLR Mineral Tracking and Certification Scheme to provide for sustainable conflict-free mineral chains in and between Member States, with a view to eliminating support to armed groups that sustain or prolong conflict or engage in serious human rights abuses.
The committee also approved a road-map for the development of the Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) Gold Chain of Custody Tracking System of which the ICGLR Secretariat will ensure the regional committee’s involvement is visible at all stages of implementation.
In the framework of the consultancies on developing the mineral value addition guidelines and assessing the level of implementation of the Six Tools, members of the regional committee agreed to serve as the focal point by coordinating and facilitating the work of the consulting teams within ICGLR members.
The Six Tools are: having a regional certification mechanism, harmonization of national legislation, regional database on mineral flows, formalization of artisan mining sector, Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) peer learning mechanism, and Whistle-blowing Mechanism (WBM).
Based on the presentation made by the Central Africa Republic (CAR) on the status of implementation of the tools, the Committee directed that the Secretariat with the support of partners should provide technical and advisory support for the effective implementation of the Regional Certification Mechanism.
