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Engaging with NGOs

North Mara / Engaging with NGOs

Since September 2019, Barrick has worked with a number of international and national NGOs on longstanding issues associated with North Mara.

In our regular engagement with national and local NGOs, we address and manage local investment and CDC projects, but also listen to areas of concern and seek input and recommendations on potential areas for improvement.

Our community engagement team has an open-door policy, and we invite many of these NGOs on a quarterly basis to visit our operations in-person, see what we are doing with their own eyes and engage in constructive reflection and discussion.

The Mine works with and engages with the following NGOs on a quarterly basis. These are organizations dedicated to improving the lives of Tanzanian citizens, and the Mine has partnered with them to meet that common objective:

Human Rights Organizations Focus Area
Hakirasimali Mining
Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) Human Rights
Hakimadini Mining
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Human Rights
Tuwakomboe Paralegals Human Rights
Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Colaition (THRDC) Human Rights
Business and Human Rights Tanzania (BHRT) Human Rights & Business
Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) Human Rights
Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA) Human Rights/Women’s Rights
Foundation for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Development (FADev) Artisanal Miners Rights

Examples of NGO-led projects at or around North Mara include:

  • Continued refinement of our grievance mechanism and continued awareness campaign
  • Human Rights training and awareness
  • Gender-based violence awareness training
  • Increasing awareness about North Mara project investments
  • Preparing socio-economic studies to track development priorities and progress

Our Engagement with RAID

Unfortunately, unlike the local NGOs, other groups appear to be unwilling to engage with Barrick in good faith.

The most prominent of those is Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), a UK-based corporate watchdog that has reported on North Mara for over a decade. Since 2021, Barrick has openly and transparently engaged with RAID in an effort to address its professed concerns.

In January 2023, RAID accepted Barrick’s longstanding invitation to visit the North Mara Gold Mine. During this visit, the RAID delegation received a comprehensive presentation on the Mine’s operations and operating environment and were able to view the transformative impact the Mine’s sustainability strategy has had on its host communities. The Mine hosted a number of tripartite meetings with RAID and local village leadership, administrative authorities and the police.

None of the allegations made by RAID regarding alleged human rights abuses at North Mara were corroborated by community leaders during the meetings.

The village leaders affirmed their previous statement that RAID had not consulted them, nor were they aware of who RAID were, and accordingly RAID did not have any known presence on the ground in their communities.

 

Previous Barrick Statements on Engagement with RAID