Mining and Women Forum in Bangkok (1)

On 21-22 October 2015, we organised a public forum to disseminate key findings from this project to all stakeholders. We are impressed by the participation from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Department of Education from the Australian Government, MMG company and Vilabouly community representatives. We also gathered with research team from the National University of Laos, Mahidol University, and delegates from Rajamongkol University. 

 The first day of the forum was filled with key findings from the research project. We started with the concept of mining and women. The literature on mining and women from international development, business and management and gender studies were compared and examined. We confirmed to the audiences that roles of women in mining industry are tremendous and that point has to be widely and openly discussed among key stakeholders in mining in all countries, including Lao and Thailand.

Three important aspects of the influence of mining on women were presented and discussed among participants. They include (1) economics and employment issues, (2) health impacts, and (3) educational provision. From the project we learnt that these three impacts can be positively and negatively influence life and well-being of women in the mining community.

 One key output from this project is a book on mining and women in Laos and Thailand, which is contributed by all team members and edited by Associate Professor Nattavud Pimpa, principal investigator of the project. The book included key points from the research on mining and employment, switched gender-roles of women in mining in Laos, and health and education consequences of mining industry.