APPROACH / OUR 3 PILLAR APPROACH
APPROACH / OUR 3 PILLAR APPROACH
The Responsible Mica Initiative (RMI) envisions a world where mica value chains are fair, responsible, sustainable, and free of child labor. To achieve this vision, RMI was formed in January 2017 as a Coalition for Action united around a three-pillar approach that is multi-stakeholder, holistic, and impact-oriented. By acting simultaneously across social, economic, and regulatory dimensions, RMI drives systemic change that benefits workers, communities, and businesses alike.
RMI promotes responsible sourcing and accountability throughout the mica value chain. A prerequisite to support implementation of workplace standards and verification systems at mica processing site and mine level lies in traceability and transparency. Officially launched in 2021, RMI traceability platform serves as a pivotal tool in RMI's ongoing mission to bring transparency to the mica industry's complex supply chains.
Under this pillar RMI focus its efforts on strengthening governance structures and legal frameworks at national and regional levels, ensuring mica mining activities are formally recognized, regulated, and monitored.
Under this pillar RMI focus its efforts on strengthening governance structures and legal frameworks at national and regional levels, ensuring mica mining activities are formally recognized, regulated, and monitored.
Through strong partnerships with local NGOs, government administrations, local community-based institutions, local elected representatives, as well as via recruitment of expert persons, RMI works at the village level to empower marginalized mica-dependent communities and children.
Eradicating child labor is at the heart of RMI’s mission. The Initiative’s workplace standards apply a zero-tolerance policy toward child labor across all mica supply chains, promoting transparency and responsible workplace practices. By supporting the formalization and legal recognition of mica mining activities, RMI helps make child protection laws and conventions enforceable on the ground. In tandem, the Initiative empowers and invests in capacity building for adults, poverty alleviation, education, and awareness of child rights within mining communities – tackling the root causes of child labor and enabling lasting change for children and their parents alike.
Through the implementation of global workplace standards, the Responsible Mica Initiative promotes responsible practices across all upstream value chains, including the payment of legally established minimum wages. However, RMI is also working to provide mica community workers with more than legal minimum wages, confident in the conviction that if adults have sufficient earnings to sustain their entire family, they will not take their children to the mica mines. Securing at least living wages and incomes requires addressing several technical barriers, beginning with the formalization of mica mining, greater workplace and supply chain transparency, and the introduction of formal worker payment mechanisms for workers – all of which are supported by the other RMI pillars.
RMI’s success relies on collaboration among industry members, NGOs, community leaders, and governments with each bearing responsibility for being part of the solution. Together, RMI can address every dimension of the mica sector challenge — from improving working conditions to securing at least a living wage or income for families and ensuring that no child is left behind.
Through this united, holistic approach, the Responsible Mica Initiative is building a future where mica is sourced responsibly, communities are empowered, and children’s rights are fully protected.
Through this united, holistic approach, the Responsible Mica Initiative is building a future where mica is sourced responsibly, communities are empowered, and children’s rights are fully protected.