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There is a growing recognition that Community Development Agreements (CDA) - if effectively implemented - can promote long-term development benefits for communities affected by mining operations as well as improve relations between extractive companies and communities. Section 139 (1) of Sierra Leone’s Mines and Minerals Act, 2009 provides that small scale or large scale mining licence holders are required to have and implement a CDA with primary host communities if their approved mining operations will or does exceed certain stipulated limits set out in the Act.
In Sierra Leone, CDA’s provide a new opportunity and framework for local development to occur in mining areas. Paradoxically, many communities home to Sierra Leones vast mineral deposits continue to experience high levels of poverty and low levels of development.
In this context, a CDA Working Group led by NMA was convened by the Strategic and Policy Unit to develop a draft model Community Development Agreement which would provide necessary details to fill out the CDA framework established by the Mines and Minerals Act of 2009. The Group was comprised of key stakeholders from government, the mining sector, international development partners and civil society organisations. The draft model anticipates high levels of community participation as shown by the governance structures it establishes and hence requires similar levels of community knowledge and awareness about the process if it is to work successfully.
This six step guide for reaching Community Development Agreements in Sierra Leone outlines some of the critical steps for mining affected communities to consider as they work through Sierra Leone’s Model CDA process with mining companies and public authorities. It is a simplified guide meant to inform, rather than to provide detailed advice.
The guide is a simple tool or check-list of the different stages of developing and implementing a CDA process in accordance with Sierra Leone’s CDA template, and can be used by different members of a specific local Community Development Committee to gain a quick overview of the CDA process.
It is important to underscore that this guide does not include all details of the Model Community Development Agreement Template and that each CDA process will be different depending on the characteristic of the host community and type of mining project.