Women urged to take up roles in the mining sector

Women’s participation in the mining sector remains low and there is a need for more to be done in encouraging them to take up opportunities in the sector, Juliet Manteaw-Kutin, Head of Legal at AngloGold Ashanti, has said.

She said although the sector held promises for women, many are not bold enough when opportunities come their way and usually fail to take advantage of job offerings in the sector.

“So, all I am saying is that when you get an opportunity as a woman to take up any role, step-up, take the position, say you can do it and while you are there, figure out how you are going to do it. Just the willingness to do something can actually propel you to achieve it,” she said.

Madam Manteaw-Kutin, who spoke on the topic: ‘Mainstreaming Gender in the Mining Value-chain: Opportunities and Challenges’, at the Ghana Mining and Energy Summit 2019 in Accra, said more young women should be encouraged to take up the sciences and also visit the mines, to interact with women miners within the industry.

She said there aren’t too many impediments in the industry, but rather an educational level problem is what she believes hindered women’s participation.

“We are not getting enough women who are qualified technically to come into the industry,” she said.

She added that, what needs to be done, is to encourage women, to take up the study of sciences and to visit the mines as part of their curriculum in their institutions.

“Once we make this attractive and we encourage our children from childhood to start pursuing these courses we will get a lot more in the industry,” she said.

Source: GNA