More than 60 RMI members and stakeholders met in Brussels, Belgium November 19, 2019 to attend RMI’s 2019 Annual Conference. The event reiterated the focus of RMI’s mission to eliminate child labor and improve working conditions in the mica supply chain originating in the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Guest speakers shared insights on the legal framework required for the mica sector and discussed best practices in other extractive sectors such as cobalt and 3TG minerals. Strategies for 2020 were also discussed and endorsed.
2018 Highlights
After RMI president, Nils Oldenburg, welcomed participants, Fanny Frémont, RMI Executive Director, recapped some of RMI’s 2019 achievements.
Expert Panel on Mica Ecosystem
The effectiveness of RMI’s programs relies on an in depth understanding of the legal, commercial and social environment where mica is mined and processed and where its workforce resides. To broaden that understanding a three-person panel discussed interrelated aspects of the mica sector and similar small-scale mining ecosystems.
At the conclusion of the panel Mr. Sergio Piazzardi, representing the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, recalled the history of the Commission’s involvement in establishing responsible supply chains, referring specifically to the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation on 3TGs, which will apply across the EU on 1 January 2021. He emphasized that private sector engagement was key to its success and that the Commission was promoting RMI’s approach.
Learnings and Upcoming Challenges
One of the benefits of RMI Annual Conferences that comes from both the formal and informal interactions among participants is the ability to evaluate and improve on-going program strategies. The 2019 Annual Conference revealed three important insights.
Strengthen · Accelerate · Enlarge
Fanny Frémont, RMI Executive director, concluded the Annual Conference by highlighting the three key directives that will help guide RMI’s strategy towards accomplishing its 2022 goal of establishing a responsible and sustainable mica supply chain without child labor in Bihar and Jharkhand.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.