Towards a more gender-inclusive extractives sector

Source eiti.org

If extractives resources are to benefit all citizens, both women and men need to be included in the sector’s governance and have equal access to employment opportunities. Yet the extractive industries are disproportionately governed and operated by men, and sector-specific policies that take gender into account are relatively scarce.

Moreover, women and girls bear a disproportionate share of the negative social, economic and environmental impacts of the sector. A recent analysis by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) suggests that women in mineral resource-dependent countries often experience greater wealth and rights inequality than those in countries that are not resource-dependent. The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to deepen gender inequality in the industry, with movement restrictions and employment cuts affecting women who hold the majority of informal and lower paying jobs.

In an effort to support more gender-inclusive decision making in the sector, the EITI Board introduced new gender reporting requirements in the 2019 Standard – related to MSG representation, employment data, information access and participation in EITI implementation. A year on, these provisions have provided a baseline for gender reporting and women’s participation in EITI implementing countries that can inform more inclusive decision making.

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At present, a number of EITI implementing countries are disclosing gender distribution data in the extractive sectors. Gender disaggregated data has been disclosed in EITI reports and reporting platform of Armenia since 2016.