Mission & Vision
Vision
To “create a global voice of women driving change in mining”. With over a decade of influence, the Alliance has played a pivotal role in promoting a global agenda that supports women in mining organisations.
Mission
Our Mission is to “Increase global recognition of women in mining by Promoting a strong, unified WIM voice, Increasing support to and among WIM organisations”. Through the Alliance, we connect WIM organisations to develop a Community.
Who We Are
The International WIM Alliance was co-developed by 15 WIM organisations and IWIM during 2020 and launched in March 2021.
It is a pioneering initiative that is open to all Women in Mining (WIM) organisations and brings WIM organisations together to leverage our collective strength in pursuit of gender equality.
The International WIM Alliance is made up of WIM Organisations from over 60+ countries, representing cities, regions, federal states & provinces, nations and continents. WIM Organisations within the Alliance support women in artisanal, large-scale mining and supporting industries (e.g. finance, law, IT) as well as women who work in allied industries such as government, academia, civil society and companies across the mining value chain.
The Alliance’s Secretariat is hosted by IWIM, under the guidance of a Steering Committee of WIM organisation representatives.
International WIM Alliance Founders
History
Global stakeholders, such as international organisations and global businesses, have long expressed the need for a conduit or coordinator to facilitate more consistent engagement with WIM organisations worldwide, which have themselves called for better coordination over the last few years.
With increasing societal expectations, diversity and inclusion are now significant stakes across the mining sector. They are at the heart of strategic issues including social licence to operate, availability of skills necessary to transform the mining industry and meeting the challenges of the energy transition.
It became clear in 2020 that we were at a turning point for the WIM movement. Like many change-driven grassroots movements, the time has come for us to leverage collective strength to achieve deeper, more durable and more systemic effects.
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Building on the success of WIM organisations in delivering constructive initiatives and thought leadership locally, we chose to explore avenues to realise our common purpose on a global scale, focusing on issues of strategic importance both to women and the mining industry.
Following discussions among WIM organisations and with stakeholders, including international organisations focusing on gender in extractives, IWIM launched the concept of a multilateral collaboration platform in June 2020.
A founding committee, comprising leaders from 15 WIM organisations, volunteered their time and energy for this important work. Together, we focused on:
- defining the specific purpose, objectives and mission beyond statements of principle, focusing on the emergence of a strong, united WIM voice;
- defining a preliminary strategy and action plan for the next three years; and
- assessing organisational models and options in support of the mission and strategy.
A series of meetings and email consultations took place in Q4 2020, culminating in a comprehensive survey, which was circulated to WIM organisations worldwide in December 2020.
This established a clear consensus on the Founding Committee’s proposals, common themes of interest and well-defined areas of collaboration and common expression for WIM organisations. The results of this survey were analysed and adopted by the Founding Committee in January 2021 and form the basis of the International WIM Alliance Declaration, which was then published at the Global WIM Summit.
Declaration
The International WIM Alliance is a pioneering initiative that brings WIM organisations together to leverage our collective strength in pursuit of gender equality. The Alliance was established to provide a global, multilateral platform that will facilitate collaboration among WIM organisations and promote the emergence of a strong, unified WIM voice. The Alliance is open to all WIM organisations. the Alliance’s Secretariat is hosted by IWiM, under the guidance of a Steering Committee of WIM organisation representatives.
The Alliance also has an internal objective in addition to the external facing mentioned already: giving support to WIM organisations in many forms during the initial phases and throughout the growth of their organisation, introducing WIM organisations to each other to foster partnerships and providing a space to learn from each other including making resources and templates available.
The Official Declaration of the International WIM Alliance was co-authored by the WIM organisations which were instrumental in structuring it to the benefit of all of us. The Alliance was launched during the Global WIM Summit in March 2021.
The Declaration is available via the links below, in three languages.
English
International WIM Alliance Declaration – March 2021
En français
International WIM Alliance – Déclaration – mars 2021
En español
International WIM Alliance – Declaración – marzo 2021
Next Steps for the WIM Movement: "Repositioning for Greater Global Impact"
Through extensive global consultations and surveys conducted in 2020, 2022, and most recently in 2024, Women in Mining (WIM) organisations worldwide have collectively defined a shared vision; an internal focus on strengthening coordination and collaboration across WIM organisations, and an external focus on advancing impactful advocacy. These priorities form the strategic foundation of the International WIM Alliance and will guide its efforts moving forward. To effectively advance this mandate, the Alliance is currently rebranding to better reflect and support these strategic priorities.
Become part of the International WIM Alliance
Join a global community of WIM Organisations all committed to advancing the safety and inclusion of women across all areas of the mining industry.
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