Managing the risk of forced labor in ASM is complex. Strategies to tackle it must address the double objective of eradicating forced labor and making sure that innocent people who rely on Artisanal and Small-scale Mining for their livelihoods are not excluded from mineral supply chains. ASM is a poverty-alleviating activity that directly and indirectly employs hundreds of millions of people around the world; excluding ASM from mineral supply chains could have a terrible impact on their livelihoods. The aim of this toolkit is to provide a hands-on approach that will help organizations, companies and government institutions to cooperate with artisanal miners rather than exclude them.
The overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is to protect human health and the environment from the releases of mercury.