Association La Lumière

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Association La Lumière

Senegal
Project Stage:
Scaling
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

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Ibrahima Sory Diallo is pioneering a watchdog movement to help ensure that Senegal’s nascent mining industry is accountable to workers, the environment, and the Senegalese people. Ibrahima believes that it is not enough to call attention to abuses, but that true and lasting reform requires a step-by-step approach incorporating government, business, and civil society. La Lumière, an organization he created, uses this multisectoral approach toward strengthening safeguards in mining laws, curbing environmental abuse, and mobilizing civil society to advocate for regulation of Senegal’s mining industry. At mining sites, the organization works to push the industry to protect and restore groundwater quality and to safeguard the health of local populations in mining areas. Ibrahima and La Lumière have already achieved several landmark victories in Senegal.

About Project

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Due to a lack of government regulation, Senegal's growing mining industry continues to pollute groundwater and violate international labor rights. Rather than tackle individual abuses on a case-by-case basis, Ibrahima is creating an industry that is transparent, regulated, and respectful of the needs of citizens. To this end, he has initiated a three-way consultation process among the government, civil society, and mining representatives to improve conditions in the mining areas. To ensure that improvements are carried out, Ibrahima has mobilized students and professional groups to act as watchdogs over the industry. These partnerships produced a report that has led to major changes in Senegal's mining code. The groups will continue to provide research on a range of technical and economic subjects, focusing on regular public updates on the conditions in Senegal's mining areas, as well as the global mining industry as a whole. La Lumière also collaborates with citizen groups in neighboring countries to create a common international approach to the mining industry. Because several nearby countries have a longer history with mining, Senegal has been pressured to relax restrictions on its own industry to remain competitive. Ibrahima recognizes that a unified international policy will ultimately be essential if true reform is to take place.