About PeaceGold
PeaceGold is a ground-breaking initiative turning gold into a source of peace and community development in Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Working across two cooperatives, we source ethically mined gold.
Without support, it is extremely challenging for artisanal and small scale mines in Ituri to access the legal market. Barriers such as heavy administration, high taxes, lack of connections and knowledge stand in their way. This results in selling to informal markets, creating unreliable sources of income and contributing to illicit activities that can contribute to conflict.
PeaceGold builds on over ten years of partnership working between Centre Résolution Conflits, a DRC-based non-governmental organisation, and Peace Direct. This collaboration has enabled CRC to accompany artisanal and small-scale mines in Ituri and improve working standards. Through our work to date, the mines have been able to achieve the necessary protections of labour and human rights to access international standards for legal gold production and sales, all whilst supporting local community development and wellbeing.
We are committed to eliminating child labour in and around the mining sites, as well as the use of mercury in the processing of gold.
CRC takes a comprehensive approach to peacebuilding, providing training in conflict resolution as well as supporting the demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants. CRC also supports women who had previously been involved in the gold refining process involving mercury, to move into alternative employment through retraining. This has included setting-up and running their own businesses and becoming community liaison officers.
PeaceGold is designed with long-term sustainability in mind. A social development fund benefitting from 1% of the traded income has been created, allowing communities to take control of their own development and invest in initiatives that can benefit their day-to-day lives.
We have worked with partners including Global Communities and Levin Sources to develop a detailed transactional framework for PeaceGold which supports our rigorous, transparent and traceable gold trades, ensuring quality controls every step of the way.
PeaceGold benefits from funding from the European Partnership for Responsible Minerals until January 2023.
Photo credit: Joel Embati
“As a member of the cooperative, our mission is to sensitize the communities on the harmful consequences of the use of mercury.”
We are supported by
PeaceGold is a ground-breaking approach to peacebuilding through the development of legal gold mining cooperatives and the sale of ethical gold to fund community development and peacebuilding initiatives. Our dream is to see the story of conflict gold in eastern Congo transformed into a story of peace and prosperity for the local communities.