On October 3, 26 of the country’s social organizations participated in the second meeting of the Civil Society Roundtable for Transparency in the Extractive Industries held in the city of Bogota. The purpose of the meeting was to learn about the progress made in the Mesa’s dissemination and advocacy activities in recent months and to define some topics to work on in the future.
The organizations that participated in this meeting discussed issues related to the balance of the final EITI action plan, the regional workshops to raise awareness of the EITI process in different regions of the countryThe main achievements and challenges that the Mesa has faced and the lines of action on which it will work in the future.
During the meeting, the following lines of action were defined for the coming months:
- Continuity of civil society participation in the EITI Colombia process.
- Strengthen access to public information on issues involving the environment and extractive industries.
- Contribute to improve the knowledge on small-scale mining in Colombia based on the experience of the members of the Mesa with the purpose of strengthening the public debate on this topic.
- To influence public policies related to the extractive sector.
During the meeting, four organizations that participate in the Roundtable presented their work in different areas of the extractive sector in Colombia:
Alianza por una Minería Responsable (ARM) shared information about Fairmined certification, which seeks to improve the environmental, social and governance practices of small-scale mining communities.
Fundación AVINA presented the work developed by the Permanent Dialogue Roundtable to consolidate a proposal from the consensus among the different sectors involved in mining for the National Development Plan 2014-2018.
Corporación Ocasa and the Córdoba Royalties Investment Follow-up Committee (CSIR Córdoba) shared their experience of the workshop they held with young people in Monteria “Re-creating our history: young people and transparency in the extractive industries”, during which fifty young people from the department of Cordoba shared their knowledge of the territory, learned about the EITI Colombia initiative and made proposals for the Civil Society Roundtable to better reach young people interested in the issue of the extractive industry.
The organizations that participated in the second meeting of the Roundtable had the opportunity to discuss the environmental issue in the EITI process, and agreed to continue with the efforts aimed at ensuring that this space continues to include awareness and information efforts at the territorial level.
The event was attended by representatives of the Alliance for Responsible Mining, Tierra Digna, Environment and Society, Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Nacional de Medellín, Universidad Piloto, Fundación Avina, Foro Nacional – Capítulo Costa, Pastoral Social, CSIR Huila, CSIR Magdalena Medio, CSIR Arauca, CSIR Córdoba, Fundación Área Andina, Corporación Ocasa, Dejusticia, CINEP/Programa por la Paz, Cordaid, European Union, Corporación Podion, among others.
The meeting was led by Universidad Externado de Colombia, Foro Nacional por Colombia and Transparencia por Colombia, who are the Civil Society representatives in the EITI Colombia National Tripartite Committee.
