Haiti Earthquake 2010

Marco Dormino/ UNDP

As many of you will be aware, last week saw the second anniversary of the tragic earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people in Haiti - and left many others homeless. There was much analysis of the event in the media last week, including discussions of the process of reconstruction and how aid money has been (or is not being) spent. For those of you who follow our facebook page a number of these were posted on there - below are a number of these links:

GUARDIAN

The Guardian 'Poverty Matters' blog and Natural Disasters page both have a number of articles, discussion posts and photos from the past two years:

Haiti's displaced people grow increasingly frustrated

Haiti's Hard Road to Recovery

Haiti Earthquake: Where has the aid money gone?

Haiti earthquake: two years on, and just half of promised aid has been delivered

Haiti earthquake: two years on, the country is still struggling to recover – in pictures

Eyewitness: Haiti earthquake two years on

BBC NEWS

The BBC News also had a number of posts relating to the anniversary:

Haiti marks anniversary of devastating earthquake

Haiti's tent cities signal long road to quake recovery

Haiti earthquake: Did appeal money make a difference?

In the News: Central and Latin America

The BBC have a number of very interesting stories on their news website relating to Central and South America, with three out of four of them related to legal and illegal gold mining:

NICARAGUA: How rainwater harvesting is helping Nicaraguan farmers... The construction of small earth dams to collect and store rainwater in the wet season is having significant benefits to crop-growers.

GUYANA: How Guyana gold mining threatens its green future... the conflicting prioritisation between economic growth and environmental protection.

PERU: Peru protests at huge Conga gold mine in Cajamarca... Concerns over water and envionmental pollution lead to protests in Peru over potentially lucrative gold mining, despite assurances by the company that they will meet strict environmental procedures and construct modern sustainable reservoirs for local communities.

COLUMBIA: Illegal gold rush sees Colombia's drug barons cash in... The high price of golf means armed drugs gangs are trying to influence and develop illegal mines in Columbia.

Risky Gold Mining in Senegal

Calcite Deposits with some evidence
of minor gold veins (Chile)

The BBC recently produced a video report of 'risky gold mining' in Senegal, West Africa. The video highlight how individuals are coming from Senegal, and across the border from Mali to hunt for and mine gold. The report highlights the lack of all supervision, regulation and safety procedures - with miners at risk of serious injury or even death. It also highlights how mercury, used in the gold mining process, is also regularly added to the local stream - which is also their drinking water supply. This poses a further risk of serious illness to the miners, and other users of this water. As the community of miners expands there is also the risk of disease from poor sanitation practice. 

Small scale artisanal mining is widespread in many developing countries - providing an important source of income for many communities. However in many cases it is done in very poor conditions, and can be illegal. The risk of serious injury or diseases (such as highlighted above) can be significant. There are programmes working with some artisanal miners, to help protect them and improve their working conditions. For example,  DFID and the World Bank are involved in a "Collaborative group on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (CASM)" that work to reduce poverty through improving the environmental, social and economic performance of artisinal and small scale mining in developing countries.