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LARGE-SCALE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Project title: Reducing mercury pollution in small scale gold mining – Philippines 2011-2014

Danish applicant organisation: DIALOGOSOther Danish partner(s), if any: 1. GEUS (National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland)

Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 København K 2. Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, (ISIM) University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health Sciences, Denmark3. International Committee of Envoironmental, Occupational and Public Health (Danish Society of Environmental and Occupational Medicine), Sdr. Boulevard 29, Odense University Hospital, 500 Odense C

Local partner organisation(s): Ban Toxics! (Bantox)

Country(-ies): Phillippines Country’s GDP per capita:$1,746(2009)

Project commencement date:01-04-2011

Project completion date:31-03-2014

Number of months:36 months

Amount requested from the Project Fund: DKK 3.000.000

Annual cost level: DKK 1.000.000

Is this a re-submission? (To the Project Fund, Mini-Project Fund or Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs)?

[x] No [] Yes, previous date of application:

Phasing – tick as appropriate:[ ] A. Is this a new project that has not received previous support?[ ] B. A new phase of a project that has previously been supported (by the Project Fund, Danida or others)?[x] C. First phase of a project with envisaged subsequent phases?Synthesis (maximum 10 lines – must be written in Danish, even if the rest of the application is in English):I udviklingslande bruges kviksølv i stigende omfang til udvinding af guld blandt amatørguldgravere (Small Scale Miners: SSM). GEUS dokumenterede i 2007, at SSM i Filippinerne anvender metoder med et ekstremt stort forbrug af kviksølv. Kviksølvs giftighed er veldokumenteret. Dialogos har gennem 8 år arbejdet med at mindske pesticidforbruget i udviklingslande. GEUS har arbejdet med SSM gennem 10 år. Med udgangspunkt i disse erfaringer startes en indsats i 4 lokalområder i Filippinerne med det formål, at udbrede kviksølvfri guldudvindingsteknikker. Indsatsen rettes mod såvel minearbejderne, lokalsamfund som sundhedspersonale. Undervisningsfilm og praktiske demonstrationer af kviksølvfri udvindingsteknikker er to væsentlige aktiviteter. I løbet af 3 år udvikles et koncept for hvorledes man kan indføre kviksølvfri metode. Modellen kan efterfølgende direkte anvendes i en stor-skala intervention i resten af Filippinerne og andre steder i verden.

Date14/12 2010

Person responsible (signature)

PlaceCopenhagen

Person responsible and position (block letters)Rasmus Køster-Rasmussen, member of Dialogos, Medical Doctor, research assistant at The Research Unit for General Practice, Copenhagen.

THE PROJECT FUND – large-scale development project (DKK 500,000 to 3 million)

Ref. no. (to be filled out by the Project Advice and Training Centre)

0

THE PROJECT FUND – large-scale development project (DKK 500,000 to 3 million) 1

A. THE PARTNERS

A.1 The Danish organisation’s history, mission and experienceDialogos was established in 1994. Its mission is to assist people in developing countries on their chosen way out of poverty, to work for democracy and a fair distribution of resources, to seek and activate resources within Denmark’s huge network of associations, institutions etc and to work for an increased coordination of the work of different NGOs. Dialogos has a proven track record of collaboration with organisations ranging from local NGOs to government authorities and international organisations such as the WHO. Over the years Dialogos has acquired substantial experience within the fields of health, nutrition, education and environment, mainly through Danida and Project Fund financed projects in Bolivia, Nepal and Uganda.

Dialogos is constituted by a board and a yearly general assembly. At present Dialogos have 180 members. It is subdivided into background groups, each of which is engaged in a specific project or activity. Dialogos is volunteer based organisation with high professional standards and experience among its members from employments in Denmark as well as from missions abroad, including working experience with major Danish NGOs, consultancy firms and Danida. When working abroad on short-term project visits the consultants are paid a salary.

Dialogos does not have working experience from the Philippines. This project is thus an expansion of project support to a fourth country. However, individual members from the background group have working experience from the Philippines and other Asian countries.

Members of this project background group are highly qualified people with professional backgrounds within areas such as toxicology, geology and small scale mining, occupational health, public health and health care planning. The group members have working experience from health, environment and small scale mining projects in developing countries, including the Philippines. Two background group members took part in the GEUS/World Bank funded fact-finding mission 2007 mentioned under B.2. . When necessary, further expertise can be sought from other Dialogos members as well as from the members’ professional networks.

The project set up is to a large extent based on experience from another Dialogos supported occupational and environmental health project (pesticide use by farmers in Bolivia) and is therefore not new to the organization. Already existing Danish and international contacts can be utilized in this project as well, and it will be a main task for the background group to establish relevant links between the projects.

A.2 Other Danish partners Dialogos has agreed on technical collaboration with three Danish partners:

1. GEUSIn 1888 the Geological Survey of Denmark was established. Currently it is called Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and is hosted in Ministry of Climate and Energy. GEUS has a staff of 300 of which 170 hold a Ph.D. or M.Sc. degree. The annual turnover is 220 million Danish kroner. GEUS carries out scientific tasks in relation to the administration of legislation in areas such as water supply, raw materials and the underground. It also undertakes assignments related to energy, minerals, water and the environment on a contractual basis for other public authorities, private companies and clients outside Denmark.

During the last two decades, GEUS has carried out smaller development projects worldwide with focus on consulting, institutional capacity building, training and technical assistance to government agencies. The projects are funded by e.g. World Bank Group, EU, UN and Danida.


GEUS has worked with small scale miners (SSM) for almost ten years in Tanzania, Zambia, Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia and the Philippines among others. The projects have been baseline surveys of SSMs comprising which commodities were extracted, which environmental and health hazards were caused by SSM activities and what measures could be taken to mitigate these hazards. In 2004 GEUS was made aware of a non-toxic borax based gold extraction method invented by a group of SSM in the Benguet region in northern Philippines.

In 2007 GEUS identified the order of the mercury pollution in the Philippines and has since then carried out several low budget pilot projects to test different methods to mitigate the threatening mercury disaster in the Philippines. GEUS has carried out pilot teaching programmes in the Philippines and Tanzania where the introduction of the mercury free borax method for gold extraction was tested. GEUS used SSMs from Benguet to carry out hands-on teaching and training. In the Philippines, GEUS has established well functioning relations to networks of local NGOs and has good connections to high ranking officials in the relevant ministries on Science and Technology as well as Health. GEUS has mainly been consulting on technical issues and environment and has a limited experience in changing behaviour of entire populations through long term interventions in developing countries.

2. University of CopenhagenFaculty of Health Sciences (www.healthsciences.ku.dk)The University of Copenhagen, founded in 1479, is a self-governing unit under the Danish state. It comprises eight faculties and more than 100 departments and research centres and is the largest institution of research and education in Denmark, with around 38,000 students, 8,000 employees and a budget for 2009 at US$ 1.25 billion. In a recent international appraisal, the University of Copenhagen was ranked 43 worldwide and no. 1 in Scandinavia.

The Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology (ISIM) (www.isim.ku.dk) The department was established in 2007, through the merger of leading international research groups across the University of Copenhagen and other institutions in Copenhagen. ISIM has approximately 380 researchers and administrative staff, including 50 PhD students. The research staff covers a great diversity of disciplines including basic sciences, clinical research, health systems and public health. Ongoing research includes approximately 270 externally funded projects with a focus on the major public health problems. These projects are conducted in close partnership with university and government partners in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

The International Health Unit has approximately 30 employees including research and administrative staff focusing on global health issues, regional and local differences in health conditions as well as international health programmes and their effects. Among the most important themes are health systems and society, health in low and middle-income societies, disaster management and prevention, vector-borne diseases and environmental health. Intervention studies, longitudinal studies, and international comparative studies are performed in a cross-disciplinary environment involving natural and social scientists as well as medical and health care researchers within the unit and across a wide European and international network.

3. Danish Society of Environmental and Occupational Medicine through its international committee ICOEPHThe number of DASAM members is 165 specialists in environmental and occupational health. DASAM was founded in 1980 and ICOEPH as the international committee of DASAM was founded in 2004. ICOEPH has been working together with Dialogos in the Plagbol project and in pesticide research and education together with Danish, Bolivian and American universities in Cambodia, Bolivia, Uganda and Denmark. ICOEPH has also been involved in public awareness rising in Denmark about occupational health and environment in developing countries on conferences and in the media, e.g. pesticide production in India by Cheminova, ship scrapping at the Alang Beach in India, Maersk container factory in Goudong China and work environment on Ericsson and Telenor factories in Sri Lanka. ICOEPH has on request from the WHO been included in the group of international specialists on


occupational medicine working to develop strategies and materials to improve the health of workers at a global level. This means that the experiences and materials developed in the project might have a global impact through the WHO. Moreover ICOEPH is member of ICOH (International Commission on Occupational Health) whereby ICOEPHs experiences also has an influence on ICOH policies and activities in favour of workers health globally.

A.3 Counterpart organisation’s history, mission and experienceBan Toxics! (Bantox) is an independent, non-profit environmental NGO based in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines that was founded in 2006 by Richard Gutierrez, who continues to serve as the organization’s Executive Director. Richard brought to Bantox extensive experience in the field of mercury pollution and advocacy. The idea behind the formation of Bantox was to create an Asian NGO that would address toxic waste trade and environmental justice from a developing country perspective. Bantox was officially approved by the Philippine authorities in 2008. Bantox also serves at the Southeast Asian regional office of the global NGO Basel Action Network.

The work of Bantox is centred on the principle of environmental justice—the belief that no one group should bear a greater portion of the burden of our collective pollution, simply because of their race, gender, economic and social standing. This commitment to an equitable sharing in the bounty of a safe, healthy environment is concretized in five goals:

1. To promote environmental justice in the Philippines and the Asian region2. To prevent toxic trade in products, wastes, and technologies 3. To reach out and work in solidarity and partnership with allied groups locally and regionally in

Asia4. To promote a new earth economics that accounts for nature’s services5. To develop local and regional initiatives through research, investigation, and policy dialogue with

government and grassroots organizations in order to actively share information and expertise

Bantox conducts its work through a board of trustees and a staff of five. The staff’s fields of expertise fit very well with the requirements of this project. The current president of Bantox, Ms. Emy Perez, over the years has devoted considerable time and effort to empower SSM communities through advocacy, training and data gathering. Also in the board of trustees is Mr. Leoncio (from BFSSM, see below).

Bantox works in partnership with various local and international institutions, among these the United Nations Environment Programme, the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the European Environment Bureau.

Bantox is presently involved in initiatives covering 3 major areas: mercury, electronic waste and toxic trade. Specifically, regarding mercury, the organization is involved in initiatives like the development and participation in the ongoing negotiations for an international mercury treaty, the development of local legislation for the elimination of mercury in Philippines, and mercury awareness campaigns in schools including the elaboration of a teaching program and a documentary film. Furthermore, the organization is working closely with Philippine authorities in developing a national plan formulating solutions towards addressing mercury use in SSM. The organizations experience within important fields like advocacy, information and awareness-raising, elaboration of teaching materials, and the investigations regarding mercury use by small-scale miners will of course be used and be a valuable part of the current project.

For further information about Bantox, see annex X.

Benguet Federation of Small Scale Miners (BFSSM) is an umbrella organization for 64 small scale mining associations with a total of 16,000 small scale miners including those working in quarries, sand and gravel and panning. The organization geographically covers 8 municipalities in Benguet Province


Rasmus Køster-Rasmussen, 14/11/10,

Chapter to be edited by BFSSM

in the Philippines. Of particular importance to this project is the organization’s emphasis on mercury free and responsible mining and its mission “to conduct and assist in advocacy programs in responsible mineral resources extraction and development in coordination with governmental, non-government and people’s organizations”. BFSSM holds positions in different government bodies and mining companies in Benguet.

BFSSM has experience in organizing seminars for SSMs. Every year since 2007 a seminar on human and ecological security has been held, and another seminar named “Advocacy: Stop Using Mercury as a Gold Catcher” has had the active participation of almost every associated miner.

Working agreements have been signed between Dialogos, Bantox and BFSSM, see annex X.

A.4 Experience of previous cooperationDuring the last 8 years GEUS has carried out several technical and investigative SSM projects in the Philippines in collaboration with the above mentioned organisations among others. All projects have been carried out in collaboration with Miss Emy Perez and co-workers.

Over the past three years GEUS and Bantox have been in close contact sharing mutual information on projects dealing with SSM issues. In 2010 Bantox and GEUS have had two small joint projects: One project on testing methods of extracting mercury from waste material from small-scale gold mining, and the other on testing alternative gold extraction methods for SSM including the borax method. The latter project was carried out together with BFSSM. Both projects involved information and communication protocols on the dangers of mercury and on alternative technologies to the mercury based gold extraction method. The cooperation between GEUS and Bantox has proven to be very smooth and satisfactory, and both parties are keen to partner on a larger-scale long-term basis.

Collaboration between GEUS and BFSSM began 4 years ago. A key person is Mr. Leoncio Naoy, chair of BFSSM, himself a small scale miner, and an experienced user of the mercury free borax method. Among the collaborative activities of GEUS and BFSSM is a small-scale project introducing the borax method in Tanzania. Mr. Leoncio Naoy also is now an active member of the Board of Trustee of Bantox.

Dialogos has collaborated with the University of Copenhagen in relation to projects concerning pesticide use in Bolivia and Uganda. Research has been carried out by students and teaching materials are now being elaborated for university level students on pesticide use in developing countries. The contact between Dialogos and GEUS was established by Professor Flemming Konradsen, University of Copenhagen.

The collaboration between Dialogos and GEUS is new. It will be based on principles similar to the ones applied in the Dialogos supported pesticide projects, where Dialogos cooperates with the technical partner ICOEPH.

The experience from the elaboration of the project proposal has shown that the GEUS staff and Dialogos members work very much along the same line. A partnership between GEUS and Dialogos in the further development of this project is considered a major comparative advantage to either organization working alone.

In the execution of projects like the actual one concerning environmental and occupational health Dialogos is supported by supervision from the Danish Society of Environmental and Occupational Medicine through its International Committee ‘ICOEPH’. This partnership has proven to function in two pesticide health projects in Bolivia and Uganda up till know, and will also be of use in the actual project, where Dialogos will draw upon specialists in environmental and occupational health from the planning stage through the execution of the project.


B. PROJECT ANALYSIS

B.1 In what context is the project placed?The geographical contextThe Philippines is an archipelago of 7000 islands with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers. With a population of over 92 million, the Philippines is the world's 12th most populous nation. Still much a developing country, the economy has been transitioning from one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing. The GDP per capita was in 2009 $1,746 but with a high degree of inequality. English and Filipino are the two official languages.

The project will work in villages in 2 provinces: Kalinga in the north and, Camarines Norte to the east of the country.

Mining Philippine gold, nickel and copper deposits are among the largest in the world. Gold mining has been going on in the country for centuries. During the last 10 years the rise in gold prices has resulted in a mining boom in terms of geographical area covered and numbers of SSMs involved.

There is now an estimated number of 300.000 SSM in the Philippines. SSM typically have no formalized education in mining, and have no concessions and are therefore often in conflict with established mining companies. “Three men and a wheelbarrow” is the classic set up for a group of SSM in most developing countries. What differentiates SSM in the Philippines from SSM in other areas is the organizational set-up. SSM in the Philippines work in cooperatives and use semi-industrialized mining methods. The latter gives rise to serious environmental and occupational health problems.

SSM produce 30 tons of gold every year equivalent to 80% of the national production or 1.3 billion USD.

The health sector Over the past several decades, the Philippines has made steady progress in improving life expectancy at birth (70 years in 2003), and child and infant mortality (40 and 29 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2003 respectively). However, poverty and economic inequality remain high in the country, and are major determinants of unequal health outcomes (under-5 mortality of the poorest 20% of households is 2.7 times higher than the richest 20%), and persistent high child malnutrition rates.

Access to health services is inequitable, because of financial barriers to care for the poor and unequal distribution of health care capacity. A little over half of the hospitals are private. In the project area the health sector consists of small hospitals with 20-30 beds and 1-3 doctors, clinics, and municipal health providers such as midwives and school nurses.

As in most other developing countries, occupational health has a very low priority in the health sector. This was evidenced during a survey carried out by GEUS in 2007. In spite of the fact that the population is facing an obvious risk of mercury poisoning, the health staff in the hospitals visited had no medical knowledge about signs and symptoms of mercury poisoning, nor of possible ways of prevention and treatment.

B.2 How has the project been prepared?In 2006 Miss Emy Perez, then with the Maximo T. Kalaw Institute for Sustainable Development, in cooperation with GEUS proposed a project for Training of Small Scale Miners and their Families in Safe Handling of Mercury During Extraction of Gold. The project was awarded by World Bank Philippines and was financed jointly by World Bank Manila and GEUS. In relation to the project, a fact-finding


Lenovo User, 11/16/10,

Awaiting further description from Emy


Awaiting further description from Emy

mission was carried out in 2007 by Peter W. U. Appel (senior research scientist, GEUS) and Rasmus Køster-Rasmussen (medical doctor, now member of Dialogos).

The main finding of the mission was that the SSM in the investigated communities were releasing excessive amounts of mercury. The ubiquitous use of semi-industrialized production methods with ore being crushed in milling stations combined with traditional mercury based gold extraction techniques result in a mercury pollution disaster of immense proportions.

During the fact-finding mission in 2007, short teaching and training courses for SSM, health providers (medical doctors, nurses and midwives) and school children were held in Zamboanga and Camarines. SSMs and children had none or only vague ideas of mercury toxicity and the health care personnel had no knowledge that local mining techniques involved a large spill of mercury. Nurses and midwives had no or limited knowledge of mercury related health hazards. The four local medical doctors interviewed had no specific knowledge of mercury toxicity. They found the problem relevant, but outside their area of influence. One doctor found the pollution inferior to other serious, more visible, health related problems encountered in his busy clinic. Though the experience showed that most locals were alarmed by the news, and focus group discussions and practical sessions with the SSMs showed that they were willing to adopt new techniques if taught how to do it.

The present project idea is based on the experience from the fact-finding mission in 2007. During the last 3 years there has been a continuous contact and collaboration between Peter Appel from GEUS, Ms. Emy Perez from Bantox and the Mr. Leoncio from BFSSM in further developing the project. The preparations of this project brought together Bantox and BFSSM and today the two organizations work closely together. Peter Appel from GEUS has paid numerous visits to the Philippines during these years, during which the project ideas have been discussed, elaborated and planned with the partners and representatives from the target group. Furthermore, contact has been initiated with the Philippine authorities including relevant ministries (departments) to ensure their acceptance and support to the project activities.

In the spring of 2010 Dialogos and the University of Copenhagen agreed to enter the project. Together these 3 northern partners decided, trough the present project, to develop a regular concept for phasing out the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining that can later be applied all over the Philippines.

B.3 Problem analysis Traditional use of mercury in small-scale gold miningThe traditional way of extracting gold with mercury is still practiced in many parts of the world. Gold bearing ores are crushed, ground, and centrifuged in a washing pan by hand so that all the light sediments are washed out. A tiny amount of mercury is added to absorb the gold from the other heavy minerals left in the pan. The amalgam of mercury and gold is then heated with fire; the mercury evaporates and the gold is left behind. This method has been used for centuries and uses approximately 1 gram of mercury to recover 1 gram of gold.

Excessive use of mercury in small-scale gold mining in the PhilippinesUnlike other places in the world, small-scale mining for gold in the Philippines is technologically rather developed. The SSMs work together in coops or loose associations of 10-30 people specialized in different processes of the work. Ventilated and well-supported tunnel and transport systems, and generator-powered milling stations, with up to 12 drums working simultaneously to crush the ore, was seen during the 2007 fact-finding mission.

The Philippine SSM add large amounts of mercury directly to the drums in the milling stations and use 10 to 25 grams of mercury to recover one gram of gold. The bulk of the mercury is lost in the milling process and is left as metallic waste in the fine sands of the tailing ponds of the milling stations.


The SSM communities visited in the 2007 fact-finding mission released an estimated 5 tons of mercury every year. This result is in good agreement with previous investigations. A report by the Philippine Department of Health submitted to UNEP in 2001 concludes that some 140 tons of mercury is released annually to the environment from small-scale mining in Northern Mindanao.

Below is a table of the studies approximating the amount of mercury emitted in the environment from the SSM sector.

Year Estimated Annual Mercury Release

2008 70 tons (Philippine Government estimate)

2007 5 tons from four small small-scale mining communities in Zamboanga del Norte and Camarines Norte (Appel, Perez, Køster-Rasmussen).

2001 140 tons from two large small-scale gold mining communities in Northern Mindanao (DOH assessment submitted to UNEP)

Early 90s 25 tons (Greer, 1993)

1986-1988 A total of 140 tons in 3 years from 53 mining communities (Appleton et al., 1999)

Gold mining is taking place in at least 40 provinces in the country leading to perhaps perhaps 200-500 tons of mercury being released every year.

This is a pollution of historic dimensions. To put these numbers into perspective there is on the bottom of the Copenhagen harbor estimated 100-200 kg mercury pollution from an old chlor-alkali factory. This has resulted in prohibition of digging and numerous other restrictions. During the most prominent mercury disaster in history, Minamata Bay in Japan, there was a release of approximately 200 tons of mercury over a period of 25-30 years. The Minamata mercury diaster caused tousands of deaths and for generations crippled infants were born.

These figures show that the gold extraction methods presently used by SSM in large parts of the Philippines is a ticking bomb for the health of the people of the Philippines, its environment and the rest of the world. Therefore, urgent action is needed.

Insufficient extraction of goldFrom the tailing ponds of the milling stations, the tailings are transported to cyanide plants that extract more gold. This implies that not only are the SSMs heavily exposed to mercury, but the output of gold is not even ideal. Measurements undertaken by GEUS have given evidence that only half of the gold present is extracted by the SSM in the initial amalgamation, giving rise to a potentially huge economic gain for the SSMs if the amount of gold extracted in the first process can be increased.

Mercury and the environmentThe mercury eventually ends up in large tailing ponds of the cyanide plants, from where it slowly evaporates and is washed out with rain into creeks that run trough villages into the sea or mangrove forest. In the environment, the mercury is entering the food chain in various ways. For example, the fish breeding in the mangrove forest are a staple food of the rural population in the coastal areas that typically eats fish 2-3 times a day. Furthermore, recent investigations have shown alarming amounts of mercury in rice.

Mercury and human healthMercury is a well-known neurotoxin. In the context of this project poisoning is seen directly with vapors of metallic mercury and indirectly with methylated mercury infesting the food chain. Acute and chronic poisoning can be severe (see fact sheet annex 7). The most important health hazard from a developmental point of view is related to the unborn child in utero. Studies from the Faeroe Islands


have demonstrated that the offspring of pregnant women exposed for even tiny doses (below the official threshold), had reduced intelligence and difficulties in various learning processes compared to the offspring of women not exposed. Similarly, studies conducted in gold mining areas in the Philippines have shown that prenatal exposure to mercury was associated with reduced scores in neurodevelopmental testing at age 2 (the Tagum studies).

The workers themselves and the villagers are heavily exposed to mercury vapor during the amalgamation processes. This is done in the open by heating up the amalgamated gold until the mercury has evaporated. No protective equipment is used.

Repeated studies have shown that workers in this kind of SSM have elevated levels of mercury in blood, urine and hair as an indicator of acute exposure. In a study from 2001 in Diwalwal in the Philippines, 72% of the workers in mining were classified as mercury intoxicated based on biological testing and symptoms. Among inhabitants living in the vicinity of the mining area 27% and among inhabitants living down-stream 38% were classified as intoxicated. Elevated mercury levels and clinical signs of intoxication have also been found in schoolchildren. This is caused by the environmental mercury pollution. The metallic mercury used in the mining process is transformed into methyl mercury in the natural environment leading to bioaccumulation in fish and other organisms consumed by the local inhabitants.

Lack of knowledge about mercury toxicity and alternativesAs already mentioned, during the teaching sessions of the fact-finding mission in 2007 it was evidenced that SSM and school children had none or only vague ideas of mercury toxicity. The SSM had also no notion that alternatives that might even give a higher yield of gold could be sought. Knowing the risks and alternatives are an important prerequisite for behavioral change and will therefore be the focus of the current project.

Need for urgent actionElimination or even reduction of the amounts of mercury used in mining will have immense significance for the health of the workers, their families and inhabitants of the areas of mining and even beyond these areas. The problem has been known for years without any action taken. Now all the conditions for change are present – we know the exact nature of the health and environmental consequences, we have a more efficient, cheap and easy method for gold extraction not hazardous to the environment (the borax method; see later) and we have several local organizations very interested in creating the needed change and action. But the initiative has to be undertaken, the knowledge needs to be spread and the SSM have to be convinced and trained. This is what this project is about.

B.4 Stakeholder analysisSSMSmall scale miners in the Philippines can be considered to working casually (no formal employment with a company) and informally. They often come from communities that have a long tradition of small-scale mining. Some of them work full-time while others are seasonal. They go into mining to augment the meager income they get from farming or fishing. Most of them are drawn into mining due to economic hardships. They do not have fixed income. The amounts of wages they receive depend purely on luck, or the quality of ore or the quantity of gold deposit they extract from the mines. The typical salary of a mine worker ranges from P250 to P500 (US$5-10) a day.

Their families depend on their income from mining. Typically they understand and speak English to some degree.

Small scale mining for gold in the Philippines is organizationally rather developed. SSM in other countries work alone or in small groups, whereas in the Philippines SSM work together in coops or loose associations of 10-30 people specialized in different processes of the work.


The baseline survey from the 2007 mission showed that the SSM had little knowledge of mercury health hazards but were keen to learn methods for the reduction in release of mercury.

Mercury dealersLocal dental clinics and gold dealers often are the source of mercury in a mining community. In some cases traveling agents come to the mining communities and buy the gold for a relatively low prize. They also sell the mercury to the SSM. Mercury is a controlled substance in the Philippines, thus its importation and sale in the country is monitored. According to the Philippine government they have not issued a permit to import and sell mercury for SSM use. Thus, it is believed that most if not all mercury circulating in SSM sites is illegally imported into the country.

As the profit the gold dealers make on selling mercury is inferior to the profit they make on buying gold they are not expected to interfere negatively with the purpose of the project.

Health care personnelMost districts have one small hospital manned with 1-3 doctors and 15-20 nurses or other hospital personnel. The baseline survey carried out during the 2007 mission showed that the health care personnel most probably had no idea about the excessive use of mercury in the mining communities. They also seemed to have little, if any, knowledge about specific mercury toxicology, and they had taken no specific action regarding possible health hazards caused by mercury.

The medical doctors expressed interest in the topic. However, in their daily work they may be forced to prioritize other more acute and visible health problems of the population. On the other hand community health workers like midwives and nurses are expected to be able to dedicate more time to preventive activities.

Farmers who are not minersThe SSM share their environment with farmers and others who have no benefits from the mining activities. Therefore, the project must find a balance between awareness rising in the public and avoidance of stirring panic and negative feelings towards the SSM. This will require ongoing analysis and community engagement which may lead to adjustments of the project’s communication strategy as time passes.

School childrenDuring the 2007 mission it was evidenced that the school children were very keen to learn about mercury toxicity, and in the subsequent teaching activities for the SSM many of them expressed that they attended the teaching activities after having been urged to do so by their children. Therefore, school children are important and effective catalysts for change in this project.

Community-based organizationsMany communities count with their own community based organizations or small NGOs. These community-based organizations are encouraged a seat in the local governance bodies, as provided in the Local Government Code. Women, aside from organizing themselves around issues like religion, livelihood, charities, are part of Local Special Bodies such as School Boards, and Health Boards that are supposed to support the executive branches of the local government. Depending on local conditions these organizations may be able to play an active role in the project, e.g. as community leaders and trainers, and supervisors and link to Bantox when the latter is not present in the project area, particularly when the project eventually phases out of these communities. This aspect will be analyzed further during baseline studies.

Philippine authorities



Section to be revised by Emy

The project has been presented to the Philippine authorities represented by the Department of Health and the Department of Science and Technology. Both ministries have expressed interest in the project and are willing to give their support as evidenced by the agreements seen in annex x. The support from the authorities is expected to facilitate the entrance of the project in the project areas.

WHO and ICOHThrough ICOEPH contacts are feasible with WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific and the WHO-Collaborating Center on Occupational Health in the Philippines, who can be a valuable support to this initiative. Likewise International Committee on Occupational Health can be of benefit creating international awareness raising and action to confront this ecological disaster.


C. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

C.1 Target group and participantsThe project will operate in the regions of Camarines Norte in the southern part of Luzon and in Cordillera Administrative Region in the northern part of Luzon. Camarines Norte has been selected as the local conditions were explored during the fact-finding mission in 2007 and Cordillera has been selected because of its geographical proximity to Benguet – the origin of BFSSM. Within the two regions, the project will concentrate its work in the following 4 communities (project areas):

Camarines Norte: The municipalities of Labo, Jose Panganiban, and Paracale. Cordillera Administrative Region: Kalinga

There are large regional differences in the Philippines and the rationale is that if the project intervention succeeds in the two rather different regions the chance is that it will also work in other provinces where gold mining is frequent. There is an estimated 400 SSMs in each of the 4 chosen project areas. Altogether the project seeks to change the behaviour of at least 1.600 SSM. The training of health care workers will include all healthcare facilities associated to these areas. The awareness raising will reach the whole population of the project areas and probably beyond. Objective 1: The minersDirect beneficiaries: The project will train 400 SSM in the borax method. Two to five SSM from each SSM cooperative will be elected to participate in the training sessions. Expected female-male ratio is 1-3.Indirect beneficiaries: Trained SSM will be expected to pass their knowledge on to the other SSM in their cooperative and villages as they realize the economical, environmental, and health benefits of mercury free gold extraction. Approximately 1.600 SSM will be reached this way. Expected female-male ratio is 1-3.

Objective 2: The community and the health care systemDirect beneficiaries: Through seminars and meetings 5-10 local key stakeholders (mining cooperative leaders, local health or environmental officials, local government leaders, among others) will be trained in occupational health and safety regarding small scale mining and in organisation and advocacy to be able to form a mercury committee in each of the project areas. Expected female-male ratio is 1-3. Short lectures will be given to all school classes in the project areas in mercury toxicology. Expected female-male ratio is 1-1, and expected adult-child ratio 1:20.The project will provide lectures, information materials, and facilitate interactions-discussions with community-based organizations, especially among women groups in all the project areas. All available healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, midwives) in the respective project areas will be trained in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic mercury poisonings and in doing IEC training activities in the communities (IEC=Information, Education, Communication). Expected female-male ratio is 2-1. Indirect beneficiaries: The mercury committees will involve and engage key persons in the society; this will facilitate the project activities in the rest of the community. The schoolchildren will tell their parents and friends about the toxicity of mercury and that way prime their SSM family members for their own training session. Expected female-male ratio is 1-1, and expected adult-child ratio 1:1.The health education workers will in turn pass their acquired knowledge on to the villagers in the regions while the curative health care workers will share acquired knowledge with their colleagues. Expected female-male ratio is 1-1.


Objective 3: SustainabilityDirect beneficiaries: The project will develop and describe a concept for the entire program of training SSM. The SSM in the project area are the primary target group for this, but the indirect beneficiaries are expected to form a much larger group in the future. The project will build up capacity and develop Bantox to handle the concept described above. Expected female-male ratio is 1-1.Indirect beneficiaries: The concept (including organisation, materials and strategies for training) elaborated in the project can be directly used in other regions and at a global level.Bantox will be able to continue the activity after this project has ended and Bantox will be able to teach other organisations about the concept. Expected female-male ratio is 1-3.

C.2 The project’s objectives and success criteria (indicators)The General Objective is to create awareness about the mercury pollution and to reduce and move towards elimination of the use of mercury in small scale gold mining.

The specific objectives are:

1. By end of March 2014, 90 % of SSMs (estimated 1440 miners) in the project areas will have converted to using mercury free gold extraction methods, and they have knowledge about the dangers of mercury to health and environment.

2. By end of March 2014, 80% of the civil society - represented by school children and women - in the 3 project areas are aware of the dangers of mercury to health and environment. Advocacy has been strengthened through the setting up of 2 mercury committees that meet quarterly. By end of March 2014, 80 % of all health care workers (estimated number xx) in the intervention area have substantial knowledge about diagnosis and treatment of mercury poisoning. Diagnosis, treatment, and registration takes place in xx health clinics.

3. By end of March 2014, a complete description has been made of a concept for creating awareness about the dangers of mercury use in small scale gold mining and about feasible alternatives. The concept includes organisation, teaching materials and strategies for training. Bantox has been strengthened to be able to lead the dissemination of the concept.

The indicators are:

Indicators Means of VerificationObjective 1 (Miners) Number of SSM who use mercury free gold

extraction methods Number of mercury-free milling facilities Number of SSM who have increased knowledge

about mercury toxicity Number of SSM who systematically work to

improve their gold extracting process

Objective 1 Direct observation Interviews with SSM and stakeholders Baseline and follow up questionnaires

Objective 2 (Community and health) Number of school children and women who

have increased knowledge about mercury toxicity

Number of well functioning mercury committees

Number of health care workers who have increased knowledge about mercury toxicity

Number of registered cases of mercury poisoning treated in the health facilities

Objective 2 Interviews with children, women, health staff

and stakeholders Baseline and follow up questionnaires Interviews with members of mercury

committees Inspection of minutes from meetings in the

mercury committees Inspection of registries in the health facilities



Emy ? help


Emy ? help

Objective 3 (Sustainability) Number of target groups that may be reached

when using the teaching concept elaborated by the project

Description of areas where Bantox has been strengthened as a consequence of this project

Objective 3 Inspection of materials Interviews with stakeholders Interview with Bantox staff Observation of Bantox capacity during

monitoring and evaluation

C.3 Outputs and activities

Activities Expected outputsObjective 1 (Miners) A baseline study is conducted to get an overview

of the awareness of mercury toxicity and mercury use among miners. Miners eager to assist in project activities and who possess the qualities as “agents of change” are identified

Production of an educational movie about mercury hazards and alternatives

Production of other teaching materials

Teaching sessions for SSM (trainor’s-training). Three seminars of 3 days are held in each community/district yearly.

Follow-up teaching at milling stations. 14 days yearly in each district/community

A follow-up study is performed

Objective 1 A baseline study that will serve for later

monitoring and evaluation as well as form the basis for the teaching activities

An educational movie about mercury hazards and alternatives exists and is used during teaching sessions

Handbooks for trainers have been elaborated as well as teaching aids, handouts and posters summarizing the most important messages from the teaching sessions


Objective 2 (Community and health) A baseline study is conducted to get an overview

of the public awareness (schoolchildren, women ,relevant stakeholders and health care workers) of mercury toxicity and mercury use among miners

Production of teaching materials

Teaching of schoolchildren, 15 minutes yearly in each class

Teaching of women’s groups, 1 hour quarterly in each group

Teaching sessions for doctors. One hour training and yearly follow-up

Teaching sessions for other health staff. Two hours training and yearly follow-up

Teaching of community-based organizations

Meetings are held to organize local mercury committees in the respective Project Areas with participation of mining cooperation leaders, local or community leaders and health authorities among others

Members of the committees are trained on four seminars

Quarterly meetings are conducted in the committees

Information to the general public

A follow up study is performed

Objective 2 A baseline study that will serve for later

monitoring and evaluation as well as form the basis for the teaching activities

Handbooks for trainers have been elaborated as well as teaching aids, handouts and posters summarizing the most important messages from the teaching sessions. Specific teaching materials for each target group

Minutes from meetings in the mercury committees exist, and the committees have handed out brass plates to the mercury free milling stations

10 articles have been printed in newspapers about mercury dangers and prevention

Objective 3 (Sustainability) An operational handbook is written describing

the concept developed in this project

Bantox staff is trained to be able to disseminate the project concept

Objective 3 All teaching materials are gathered in the

handbook “How to implement mercury free methods in small-scale gold mining”. The book also contains a description of strategies etc.

Bantox staff participates in relevant trainings within and outside the organization


C.4 Strategy: how will the project be carried out?IntroductionUp till now, the Philippine authorities have been well aware of the mercury problem but have not been able to find a solution to it. Top-down strategies including legislation have proven insufficient, and therefore another approach as suggested in this project is needed.

One side of the problem is the amounts of mercury already leaking from past gold production, the so-called tailings, into the environment in the mining villages. This, however, requires technology, tools and strategies and is considered outside the scope of a small NGO project. However, there is hope that this will be addressed in the near future, and experts from GEUS are involved in trials to find the most suitable way to clean the tailings of mercury - and in the process extract the huge amounts of remaining gold as well.

Dialogos and its partners want to target the other side of the problem, i.e. the ongoing use of huge amounts of mercury in gold extraction by SSM. Thus, the project will focus on awareness raising and the introduction of a different gold extraction technique, whereby mercury is substituted with a harmless and easily available chemical, Borax.

The project is based on the existing experience made by Dialogos as well as the collaborating partners in Denmark and the Philippines – experience comprising participatory teaching, the elaboration of teaching materials for different target groups, advocacy, inter-sectoral collaboration etc. In this sense, the project cannot be seen as innovative. However, what is new is the emphasis put on occupational and environmental health in relation to SSM’s use of mercury in the gold extraction procedure, and the bottom-up approach to this problem, whereby the miners’ practice is changed not through legislation and similar actions but through increasing their income and trough their own wish to care for the environment and their own and their children’s health. More importantly, the component of a strong miner-to-miner training differentiates this project from past initiatives done by government and other sectors.

A concept for changeThe partners in this project are aware that the funding we apply for from the Project Fund will not be sufficient to train the hundreds of thousands of SSM involved in this pollution disaster, but the project group has got the commitment, the experience, the expertise, the network, and the idea to create a concept for organizing the training of SSM and rising a proper level of awareness in the affected communities and among health care personnel without creating conflicts. At the core of this project will therefore be the participatory elaboration of a conceptual model of training and awareness rising that is mastered by Bantox but in the future can be used by other organizations as well all over the Philippines and in the rest of the world. A validated model for solving this pollution disaster may be of big interest to the authorities who may be provided with a tool for interventions that has not been available until now, and it may enable them to attract major international donors in the future.

Activities plannedA series of activities is planned in the project, all focusing on the overall objective to raise awareness and minimize the use of mercury in small scale mining. When the project is initialized, a baseline study will be carried out. This will serve the purpose of creating a basis for the detailed planning of future interventions (course contents, etc.) and will also serve for future monitoring and evaluation.

During the project period, the following different training sessions are planned to take place:- for SSMs about the dangers of mercury and about alternatives to mercury use in gold

extraction - for school children and community-based organizations


- For women’s groups who would be trained as community health para-professionals on the signs and symptoms of mercury poisoning and to undertake continuing information dissemination on the dangers of mercury

- for health staff about mercury toxicity and the signs and symptoms of mercury poisoning

The training sessions for the key beneficiaries will be based upon participatory learning and action. This means an ongoing involvement of the beneficiaries in the development of the project, its strategies and future concept and may imply changes in the planned activities if found relevant. The advantage of this strategy is that changes will have their roots in the target group itself which will help to ensure lasting changes. Teaching and informative materials will be elaborated in collaboration with the key beneficiaries.

The project will encourage that scientific investigations are carried out in relation to the project, and emphasis will be put on disseminating the experience from the project in relevant forums.

Gender issuesMost SSM are men, and therefore, the course activities directed towards the miners themselves will primarily be to the benefit of men. However, other course activities will focus on men as well as women and children. From the studies made in 2007 it is known that the women and children play an important role in convincing their spouses and fathers that changes are needed in relation to mercury use, and therefore the courses for these target groups are seen as very important to ensure long lasting changes in the men’s practices. Also, the women who usually control or manage the household budget, including the monies allotted for mining activities, will be able to exercise influence on the family budgets, e.g., decision on how much to use for mercury and other mining implements. Further, the women would be able to understand and appreciate the costs of not using mercury in terms of the translation into savings on health expenses, environmental costs (food and water contamination), among others. Obviously, men, women and children will all gain from changed practises and the resulting decline in mercury use.

Substitution of mercury with BoraxSSM from Benguet in the north of Luzon have for years been using an alternative method. Instead of mercury they use the salt named borax. Borax is largely untoxic (for instance it is used in many cosmetics). It is cheap and easy accessible. On top is considerably more efficient in extracting gold than mercury is for experienced SSMs.

Until now SSM in other areas of the country have been reluctant to quit the use of mercury, most likely because they are unaware that an efficient and cheap alternative exists, and because they are unaware that mercury is extremely toxic.

During training sessions in the SSM communities, the SSMs will be introduced to this new Borax Method of gold extraction.

Today mercury is added directly to the whole unwashed grinded ore, retained and heated. The new process is a bit more labor intensive, estimated 5-10 minutes for a drum of ore, but retains twice the amount of gold. After the crushing of ore in the milling stations, the miners will have to wash out the light material with a washing pan retaining the heavy sediments. The heavy sediments are then placed on a bed of borax powder and heated, where after the gold will gather under the melted borax.

This alternative way of extracting gold does not require new tools or equipment that the miners don’t already possess. It does, however, require new skills, and therefore training and practice will be required before the miners are confident to use the new method, and follow-up will be needed. Therefore, the project plans intensive course activities in the SSM communities during the first year followed later by several follow up visits.


Awareness rising leading to change of practiceThe project is primarily a capacity building project that raises the awareness of the target population, through sharing of knowledge among partners and target groups. Based on our experience from projects dealing with the use of pesticides, we assume that bringing new knowledge through teaching and information to SSM, health personnel and others will help them to alter their current practices and lead to a change in behavior in relation to mercury. It is our experience that this is a sound assumption if the new knowledge is understood and if it can help to improve performance and income of the target groups.

Peer educationThe knowledge in the primary target groups is shared by working together, through seminars and courses, and it is expected that these groups will pass on their knowledge to fellow SSMs, as a sort of ‘training of trainers’ principle. One other important principle applied in the project is to let the practical training during courses be run by fellow SSMs who already have learned the technique. In the beginning, the borax method will be new to all SSMs in the project area, and therefore assistance will be sought from members of the Benguet Federation of Small Scale Miners who already are familiar with the technique. Later on, it may be found feasible to let further trainings be run by local miners who have learned the technique through the project.

Teaching materials and general informationOne important issue in a project like this one based primarily on the dissemination of knowledge is the elaboration of high quality teaching materials. The Danish project partners as well as Bantox have vast experience in educating and in producing educational materials, and this experience will be of use in the current project.

The following educational materials will be produced:

An educational film The film should - Tell about mercury toxicity- Demonstrate the use of a washing pan- Demonstrate the borax technique- Tell about the economical benefits of substituting mercury with Borax- Tell about the health benefits now and in future generations of the Philippines

PamphletsTo be used as hand-outs after training activities

PostersTo be used in the SSM communities, highlighting the most important messages of the project

HomepageBantox already counts with a homepage. This will be used as a platform for internet communication, distribution of teaching materials etcetera.

Materials produced and experiences gathered will be systematized and disseminated at a local, national and international level by conferences, publications, internet etc. – the key issue is to have an experience and a concept that has proven its worth, including materials of high quality that are easily adapted to new setting.

AdvocacyAdvocacy is considered crucial in a project of this kind, and it will be an integrated part of all project activities to see how the project messages can be passed on to other relevant persons at all levels. Thus, project participants will be urged to pass on their knowledge to peers and others, and the


project will try to strengthen the SSMs ability to speak their own case. The formation of mercury committees and health para-professional groups is seen as an important tool in this process.

Towards the end of the project, advocacy towards decision makers, authorities, international institutions etc. in the Philippines will come to play a very important role. If the project proves successful, large scale action can be wished for to cover all (300.000) SSMs in the Philippines who for the main part use mercury for gold extraction – and should it not be successful, advocacy is needed to point the authorities’ awareness towards the mercury problem and the urgent need to find other solutions to the problem.

It should be noted that Bantox is already an NGO with substantial experience in networking. Bantox’ collaboration with national as well as international institutions will form a good platform for advocacy in the project, i.e. advocacy directed at legislation, control with import and sale of mercury etc. Experience from this project will obviously be of use in this work.

Dissemination As a small project we do not expect to cover large areas, although we expect that the strategy of ‘training of trainers’ will result in knowledge being passed on to more people than the project’s direct beneficiaries. However, one important objective of the project is to create a concept including strategies and materials that can be distributed to a larger number of people and other geographical areas, if there is an interest to do so. We have experienced our materials produced in a pesticide project in Bolivia being sold to other projects and organisations (including Danida), photocopied and sold on the black market, adopted and distributed through ministries etc. Radio programs, articles in newspapers etc. are also making it possible to get the information out to a much larger number of people. Already an agreement has been made with the Danish Ulandssekretariatet, who once teaching materials have been elaborated in the project will use these in their planned activities with small scale miners.

The SSMs trained in the project will be encouraged to pass their acquired knowledge on to their fellow miners. The same applies for other people trained by the project, i.e. school children and health care workers. This will lead to dissemination of the project messages beyond the primary target groups.

The project plans to follow up on the GEUS initiated pilot south-south exchange project where a SSM from Benguet visited Tanzania and demonstrated the borax technique. When the project is well running in the Philippines key representative small scale gold miners from other parts of the world may be invited to inspect the project.

Interdisciplinary and other collaboration The project is seen as an interdisciplinary project. This is already reflected in the Danish project group and will be mirrored in the employment of relevant project staff from different backgrounds.

Collaboration will be sought with all relevant parties in and outside the project area: Authorities, NGOs, CBOs, ministries etc. Some agreements with relevant collaborating partners have already been signed, see annex xx.

Students training and collaboration between universities and professionals North-SouthThe project should aim to link up with local science and medical schools and colleges. Once relevant contacts are made in the Philippines, the project will work towards establishing contacts between Denmark and the Philippines, e.g. between relevant research groups at universities in the two countries.

Sustainability


This project is not a big project setting up expensive infrastructures that must be maintained when the project is phased out. Nor does it create complicated new administrative structures, procedures and activities that will fall apart if not phased out properly.

Bantox is already an experienced NGO and is expected to be able to continue its work when this project finishes. However, the project will also actively work towards further strengthening the capacity of the organization where weaknesses may show up so as to ensure Bantox’ ability to continue working along the lines of the project.

The project deals primarily with awareness raising, and the expected changes seen as a result of the project will thus be changes in knowledge and practice. If the SSMs see the changes as beneficial in terms of economic outcome, work load, or health, it is very probable that they will stick to new practices, even when the project is no longer active in the area. Experience from Benguet District shows that once the SSMs are familiar with the Borax Method, they don’t want to reverse to using mercury. One very convincing argument is the economy: Research has shown that the borax method is just as cheap as the mercury method, but with a much higher gold yield.

By producing strategies and materials of high quality, in the pesticide project in Bolivia we have experienced that other organizations, operative branches of ministries, teaching institutions and other NGO’s adopt the theme, our teaching materials and they themselves ask and pay for courses.

When local science and medical colleges are part of the project, they could help ensure that the teaching and information materials are taken on by their respective departments, and properly supervised by the school system.

FutureOur hope as expressed earlier is that with this first phase we will be able to create an awareness of this very serious situation to make government and international institutions take the actions and measures necessary at a large scale to deal effectively with this situation.

This first phase of the project is considered a pilot phase, and depending on the experience, a second phase may be relevant with extension of activities to other geographical areas in the Philippines.

However, even more relevant for a second phase may be a changed focus so as to ensure that the practical experience gathered in this project phase and the concept elaborated will come to the benefit of larger target populations. Important future partners in the dissemination of the concept will be relevant ministries, nursing and medical schools, teachers training colleges etc. where it may be sought to incorporate the concept into relevant curricula..

Such interventions will be discussed and to a certain extent prepared in the first phase, but with a time limit of three years, they cannot be dealt with sufficiently in this phase.

Exit strategyShould the necessity arise to close down the project after this initial pilot phase, the phasing out in the project area will start half a year before the project closes down completely. Emphasis during the phasing out will be put on ensuring that all the people trained during the project are handling their new knowledge and skills as confidently as possible, and if necessary refresher courses will be carried out. Furthermore, it will be ensured that the teaching materials elaborated during the project are distributed to as many stakeholders as possible. If the evaluation of the project shows that the project should not be continued, it will be an important task of the evaluation team to come up with further suggestions in relation to the exit strategy so as to ensure as smooth an exit as possible.

C.5 Assumptions and risksMain assumptions and risks


The Philippine Department of Health will support the project The local government units in the respective Project Areas and health care sector will support the

project The SSM will understand the risk of using mercury and the economical beneficences of using

borax. It is possible to make the different stakeholders work together. No major unrest in the country or in the Project Areas will hamper the activities of the project. It is assumed that the funds for the project are administered in a sound way to avoid misuse and

corruption.


D. PROJECT ORGANISATION AND FOLLOW-UP

D.1 Cooperation prospects: How does each partner contribute to implementing the project? The day-to-day management will be the responsibility of the project coordinator. The project forms internal management mechanisms by conducting planning and evaluation meetings for the project staff at least monthly. Capacity building of the staff will take place and an internal financial management system will be used. Processes of monitoring and evaluation will take place to ensure that planned activities, objectives and missions are achieved with acceptable financial and personal management standards.

Bantox has on hand the following staff that can function as the Secretariat that will administer and implement the Project. The following staff are on hand to provide the needed expertise:

1. Mr. Richard Gutierrez – overall project coordination and policy and legal expertise2. Ms. Emy Perez – community / grassroots coordination and network building3. Mr. Gil Viloria, Jr. – policy and IEC expertise4. Ms. Jeramae Nano – financial controller5. Mr. Jun Felix – logistics coordination and support staff for the project

Staff will be employed by Bantox to implement the project:

The project will count with a Project Steering Committee (PSC) that will play an important role in guiding the organization in policy areas and ensure that any new intervention falls within the project’s overall vision. The PSC will agree on objectives, will ensure that fiscal control is kept at all times, will advice on strategic issues and will help lobbying in wider circles nationally. The representation of the PSC will be defined during the first months of the project taking into account the need for direct representation of the project’s primary beneficiaries. Once established, the PSC will meet quarterly or more frequently if the need arises. In the project areas, the mercury committees will serve as local partners for the umbrella PSC.

A background group in Dialogos comprising members from Dialogos as well as technical experts from the other Danish partners will supervise the activities of the project by regular mail contact and visits to the project. The Danish team will provide technical input to the local NGO and during project visits, will take part in the project by participating in courses given to the target groups, give courses for the personnel, take part in the production of teaching aids etc. Furthermore, representatives from the background group will take part in the initialisation of the project, evaluate the progress of the project, and plan for the future. Thus, the advantages of having a local NGO carrying out the project activities will be supplemented by the Danish NGO and its Danish collaborators supporting the local NGO with technical knowledge etc.

The University of Copenhagen will provide counseling to the project partners in case questions that require scientific input and knowledge not present among the project partners themselves arise. Furthermore, the university will act as a partner for the dissemination of project experience and knowledge. If the project gives rise to major research projects like PhD-studies, the university will provide guidance and counselling and will take the lead in case it is found feasible to write a separate application for research funds once the project is well initiated.

Dialogos has the responsibility towards the Project Fund, and Bantox is responsible towards Dialogos. Standard guidelines for monitoring, auditing and reporting set up by the donor organization will be followed at all times.

Agreements of responsibilities will be elaborated and signed by participants once the project is financed.



Detailed list will follow

D.2 Monitoring and evaluation of project implementationIn Denmark a project group is formed that will meet quarterly to revise project plans, quarterly reports and accountability and provide technical input and supervision to the project where needed. A person from this group will have the direct day to day communication with the project personnel. Ad hoc meetings will be held when found necessary. From this technical project group expertise will be provided from Denmark or during visits in the Philippines when needed.

Bantox is responsible for the running of the project activities and will follow a defined action plan. There will be monthly meetings within Bantox and quarterly reports elaborated and sent to the Danish project group. Along with the quarterly reports, a plan for the coming quarter is elaborated. The Danish project group will perform project visits 1-2 times a year to discuss and follow up. After project visits a report is made.

Any adjustments will be discussed within Bantox, with the PSC and with the Danish project group before being incorporated in the quarterly action plans.

An internal midterm review carried out jointly by Bantox and the Danish project group is planned after 1½ years in order to ensure relevant adjustments. An evaluation approximately 6 months before the end of this project phase will have the aim of analyzing the results of the project and of giving recommendations on an extension of the collaboration if found relevant. A baseline survey will be carried out at the beginning of the project. When reviewing and evaluating the project this baseline survey will be repeated to document expected positive changes in knowledge and behaviour as seen from indicators. Information is gathered by means of questionnaires, interviews and statistics in the districts and at national level. Data will be analysed using sound statistical procedures and standard statistical programs.


E. POPULAR FOUNDATION AND INFORMATION WORK

E.1. The Danish organisation’s popular foundationPlease see annex 6 for a description of Dialogos’ roots in the Danish population.

E.2 Has project-related information work in Denmark been planned?Advocacy and project-related information is a natural part of Dialogos’ activities in Denmark, and the organization counts with a number of professionals in communication.

Over the years, Dialogos has published articles in both popular and scientific literature, and informative videos and several radio emissions have been distributed to local radios in Denmark.

The overall objective is to present the circumstances people in other parts of the world face and show the efforts undertaken and possibilities to improve their living conditions. Important effects of this work are the creation of an understanding and acceptance of the Danish foreign aid canalised through Danida and the Danish NGOs. When the projects lead to new scientific knowledge the aim of publishing it in scientific journals is obviously to distribute the knowledge to others who may use it directly or as the basis for future research.

During this project phase it is planned to extend the Dialogos information activities in Denmark to include the current project. Thus, the project will be described on the Dialogos web-page, in the Dialogos newsletter, in radio programmes etc.

The partners have publicized a vast number of articles in scientific literature and will be doing so on the basis of this project too.


3. Budget summary

Budget summary: currencyIndicate the total cost (i.e. including contributions from the Project Fund as well as other sources) DKKOf this, the Project Fund is to contribute

DKKIndicate any other source of finance, including the Danish organisation’s or its partner’s contributions, if any

DKK

Indicate total cost(=local budget) in local currencyIndicate exchange rate appliedIf relevant: Indicate the extent of project-specific consultancy assistance (spreadsheet 3 of the budget format)

DKK

Main budget items: Financing planFull amount Of this, from

Project Fund Of this, from

other sources 1. Activities2. Investments 3. Expatriate staff 4. Local staff 5. Local administration 6. Project monitoring/technical assist7. Evaluation (included in 6.)8. Information in Denmark (max 2% of 1-7)9. Budget margin (max 10%, min 6% of 1-

8)10. Project expenses total (1-9)11. Auditing in Denmark12. Subtotal (10 + 11)13. Administration in Denmark (max 7% of

12)14. Total



Estimated 3 mio DKK, budget currently being elaborated

4. Contact information

Basic information about Danish applicant organisation

DialogosAbigaelsvej 155000 Odense C+45 [email protected] www.dialogos.dk

Contact person Rasmus Køster-Rasmussen+45 [email protected]

Partner in the South Ban Toxics26 Matalino St., Suite 329 Eagle CourtDiliman, Quezon City 1101 PhilippinesTele Fax: +63 2 735 1655www.bantoxics.org

Richard [email protected]

5. ANNEXES Supplementary annexes

Annex no. Annex title1 Dialogos’ statutes2 + 3 Dialogos’ annual report and audited accounts4 Dialogos’ governing body members5 Dialogos funded projects6 Dialogos folkelig forankring7 Mercury fact sheet8910

Annexes that can be forwarded on requestCV’s Danish volunteers and consultants Bantox statutesBantox annual reportCV core personnel Bantox


http://www.bantoxics.org/

http://www.dialogos.dk/

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