Part II guidance Notes Pillar I – Laws, Policies, and Institutions

4.5 Emergency Preparedness and Response
4.5.1 Adopt and implement 
regional and national emergency 
preparedness and response 
programs to identify and 
minimize risks through hazard 
elimination, engineering controls, 
procedures, and education. 
• 
Government should have emergency preparedness and response plans and should require 
mining entities to develop emergency preparedness and response plans aligned with 
international standards that consider the differential impact of emergencies on women, girls, 
boys, and men. Further guidance can be found in IGF’s 
Guidance for Governments: 
Environmental management and mining governance
. 
• 
Government should put into place a framework that requires consultation and cooperation 
with local, regional, national, and as appropriate, transboundary stakeholders in the 
development and maintenance of emergency preparedness programs. 
• 
Government should endorse and promote good international practices. For example, the 
UN 
Environment Programme
 since 1988 has led the Awareness and Preparedness for 
Emergencies at Local Level (APELL) program, which outlines a 10-step plan in its 
handbook
. 
• 
Government plans should be: 
o 
Accompanied by adequate resourcing and capacity-building for responsible staff
o 
Periodically reviewed, tested, and revised to reflect the changing context 
o 
Continuously communicated to the public in a format that is accessible to all.
• 
Emergency plans should address the capacities of all genders and age groups to react and 
respond in a safe way in the face of an emergency. This should include consideration of 
restrictive gender norms, the mobility of children, older people, and people with disabilities, 
and any other factors that might increase vulnerability in the face of a crisis.
• 
Emergency plans and services should address the increased security risks facing women and 
girls and be designed to minimize and respond to gender-based violence, exploitation, assault, 
and trafficking. The plans and services should be communicated to women and girls.
• 
Government should put into place a system that coordinates emergency preparedness 
between mining entities, local authorities, and local populations. 
4.5.2.a Require mining entities to 
develop an emergency 
preparedness and response 
program prior to construction. 
• 
Government should require all mining entities to have an emergency preparedness and 
response program as part of the environmental and social impact assessment and prior to 
commencing operations. The emergency preparedness and response program should include:
o 
A risk assessment
o 
Emergency management, response, and recovery plans
o 
Crisis communications strategies.
Government should ensure that emergency preparedness and response programs are 
developed in collaboration with local, regional, and national governments; local emergency 
responders; and local communities, including artisanal and small-scale miners, where present. 

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