With the ITSCI programme now operating in four countries, training events for project staff are an international affair. In July, project managers and reporting officers for Burundi, Rwanda, the DRC and Uganda convened in Bujumbura, Burundi for extensive training.
Sessions were held on incident reporting and management, due diligence requirements relevant to companies, whistleblowing, traceability procedures and data processing improvements, reporting and addressing the complex circumstances on the ground in each region.
ITSCI project managers from different countries were able to share success stories and work together to share learnings from their own areas that will bring about further improvements in ITSCI activities across the region. Visits were also made to a local exporter and a mining company which enabled the companies to ask questions and provide feedback and suggestions to ITSCI staff.
With the independent confirmation of ITSCI’s 100% alignment with standards of the OECD Due Diligence guidance, there was a renewed focus on improving the knowledge of those requirements on the ground, and discussion centred on how to best support companies and government in each region to apply the 3T due diligence framework further.