Stronger OECD implementation on the ground in DRC

The ITSCI traceability and due diligence programme was piloted in 2010 at one mine in DRC’s South Kivu province. Eight years later, ITSCI covers seven DRC provinces and nearly 1,000 sites where 40,000-plus artisanal miners extract and sell conflict-free 3T minerals. ITSCI is the only industry programme whose standards are 100 percent aligned with OECD Due Diligence Guidance.

On the ground, alignment is slightly less, at 75 to 80 percent, according to an assessment. ITSCI is committed to continuing to improve these scores and to implementing all of OECD’s recommendations. As a first step, ITSCI conducted an intensive four-day training for all of its on-the-ground teams in DRC. In total, 62 staff members from Pact and its field implementing partners ARDERI and BEPAT attended the training, in Goma, North Kivu, in October 2018.

ITSCI program manager for the Great Lakes Region Mickaël Daudin started the training by re-viewing all of the program’s actors and structures. Besides the regulatory context, the training extensively focused on the central role of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance, the five-step framework and the Annex II on high on-the-ground risks and how these should be mitigated.