CARLSBAD, Calif.
— the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) recently announced plans to embark on a four-year, $1.3 million commitment to expand its artisanal mining education program.
The program, which is funded through the GIA endowment, is a collaborative eff ort withPact, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that partners withother organizations, businesses, and governments to develop systemic solutions in communities challenged by poverty and marginalization.
The education program began in 2016, witha group of gemstone miners in Tanzania. the idea for the program was developed after members of GIA traveled to Kenya and Tanzania and witnessed the sever conditions in which artisanal miners work.