“We Want What theOk Tedi Women Have!”Guidance from Papua New Guinea on Women’sEngagement in Mining Deals

Capital and Inequality in Rural Papua New Guinea

“…Where land was lost to mining or where agriculture was given up entirely, women have further lost social status as they no longer contribute to the household economy and have therefore become more dependent on their men. Most of the negative social impacts of the mine, from large-scale in-migration and alcohol-induced violence to increases in polygyny and extramarital affairs, have disproportionately affected women and children (Hyndman 1994b;Bonnell 1999;Macintyre 2003;Johnson 2011;Menzies and Harley 2012;Hemer 2017;Wardlow 2019Wardlow , 2020.…”

What People Fight Over: Arenas of Contestation

“…In Papua New Guinea's North Fly District, women leaders organized to negotiate community mine continuation agreements with the Ok Tedi mine. Their seat at the negotiating table eventually won them an agreement guaranteeing their community 10 percent of all compensation, 50 percent of scholarships, cash payments to families (including women as co-signatories), and a quota of seats on the bodies charged with implementing the agreement (Menzies and Harley 2012).…”

Enrolling the Private Sector in Community Development: Magic Bullet or Sleight of Hand?

“…It is telling that after 25 years, recent negotiations at one mining operation (Ok Tedi) have provided for only a small portion (between 10 and 18 per cent) of community compensation to be 'ring-fenced' for women and women's projects. Perhaps even more revealing was that this outcome was touted by a World Bank review team as an industry-leading practice (Menzies and Harley, 2012). Gender is not the only axis of exclusion that becomes further entrenched by the activities of the private sector in Papua New Guinea, but it is in many respects the one that companies could do most to challenge.…”