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SDG 5: Gender Equality

There is an expectation that the private sector can and should play a significant role in promoting and supporting the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This SDG calls for an end to all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, and for their full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership in political, economic, and public life.

The benefits and impacts of mining are often unequally distributed—men tend to receive the economic gains, while women frequently bear disproportionate burdens, including, in some cases, exposure to gender-based violence. Mining companies have a responsibility to promote gender equality by recognising women’s property and resource rights, actively involving them in consultation and decision-making processes, and ensuring equitable access to jobs and economic opportunities.

What companies need to know to manage impacts or make a positive contribution
  1. The gender dynamics in local communities at an operational level and the cultural parameters for actively seeking to strengthen women’s roles (for example in decision-making).
  2. How their activities or presence creates risks of adverse impacts on women and how they can ensure that these risks are adequately addressed.
  3. Existing initiatives led by others to promote gender equality and how to align with these efforts to strengthen gender equality.
Minimising negative impacts Maximising positive contributions
  • Recognise women’s rights to resources and property.
  • Actively include women in community engagement processes, especially those relating to land acquisition and resettlement.
  • Ensure gender parity by providing equal pay for equal work across the company.
  • Address vulnerability and gender-based violence in the community or workplace.
  • Make a clear statement in support of gender equality for women and girls.
  • Take steps to recruit and retain female employees and make the workplace a safe place for women.
  • Promote more women to visible leadership positions.
  • Establish gender-sensitive grievance mechanisms.