On September 13, 2025, Africa Transcribe (ATRA), formerly known as Africa Transcribe Enterprises (ATE), was officially admitted as a member of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership (GMP). This partnership, under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), brings together nearly 300 stakeholders – from governments and NGOs to industry leaders and academia – to combat mercury pollution worldwide. As a new partner, ATRA is poised to amplify efforts in reducing mercury emissions, with a laser focus on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) – a sector that demands urgent action.
The GMP’s mission is clear and compelling: to protect human health and the global environment by minimizing, and where feasible, eliminating anthropogenic mercury releases into air, water, and land. Launched in 2005 and closely aligned with the Minamata Convention on Mercury – the landmark 2013 global treaty named after the tragic Japanese mercury poisoning incident – the Partnership drives immediate, tangible progress. It operates across eight priority areas, including ASGM, coal combustion, and waste management, fostering knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, and innovative solutions to support the Convention’s ratification and implementation. Today, with mercury’s insidious spread threatening ecosystems and communities everywhere, ATRA’s entry couldn’t come at a more critical time.
Mercury’s dangers are no secret, but their scale in ASGM is staggering. Globally, this, largely, informal sector – vital for livelihoods but rife with hazards – accounts for over 2,000 tonnes of mercury releases annually, representing more than 37% of all anthropogenic emissions. In ASGM, miners use elemental mercury to amalgamate gold from ore, only for vapours to escape during burning, contaminating air, soil, and waterways. These releases bioaccumulate as toxic methylmercury in fish and food chains, leading to devastating health effects: neurological damage, developmental disorders in children, reproductive issues in women, tremors, memory loss, and even respiratory failure. An estimated 10-19 million miners worldwide, plus 80-100 million dependents, face this risk, with the global disease burden from chronic mercury intoxication clocking in at 1.22 to 2.39 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) – a profound loss of healthy life.
Zooming in on Tanzania, the burden is acutely felt. ASGM employs over 1 million people here, many in the Lake Zone (Mwanza, Geita and Mara), Southern Highlands (Chunya and Songwe), and other Regions in Tanzania where mercury use is rampant within ASGM operations. Studies show elevated mercury levels in miners’ urine and blood – medians of 4.75 μg/L in urine and 2.70 μg/L in blood, with extremes soaring to 612 μg/L and 167 μg/L, respectively – far exceeding safe thresholds. Women, who make up 30-50% of the workforce, report higher rates of menstrual disorders linked to exposure, exacerbating reproductive health crises. Environmentally, mercury-laced sediments poison rivers and lakes, decimating fish stocks and biodiversity in the Lake Victoria basin.
This isn’t isolated to Tanzania. In East Africa’s EAC (including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda), similar ASGM hotspots amplify cross-border pollution, affecting shared waters and trade. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) – think Zimbabwe and Zambia – mirrors the crisis, with Zimbabwe alone ranking among the top mercury users, where ASGM is the worst toxic pollution problem per the Blacksmith Institute. Continent-wide, Africa’s ASGM emissions contribute disproportionately to the global tally, hitting vulnerable populations hardest in poverty-stricken mining communities. Internationally, mercury knows no borders: atmospheric transport carries African releases to distant shores, underscoring the need for unified action under frameworks like the Minamata Convention.
The GMP’s Overarching Framework – the Partnership’s strategic backbone – provides a roadmap for coordinated action, emphasizing stakeholder collaboration, advisory guidance, and progress tracking across its eight areas. It empowers partners like ATRA to translate global commitments into local impact, particularly in ASGM, where the goal is clear: eliminate mercury use through national targets, best-practice adoption, and market-driven transitions.
ATRA is stepping up with a targeted focus on Tanzania, supporting the Minamata Convention’s implementation by promoting mercury-free technologies like gravity concentration and the borax method, alongside awareness campaigns and capacity-building for miners. In solidarity with EAC and SADC partners, we’ll scale these efforts regionally, while linking to continental and international initiatives for broader reach. Key to this? Deep collaboration with Tanzanian Government agencies – such as the Ministry of Minerals and the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) – to integrate ASGM reforms into national action plans. Together with NGOs, industry allies, and local cooperatives, ATRA will address mercury’s dual assault on health (e.g., via community health screenings and fetal protection programs) and the environment (e.g., remediation of contaminated sites and sustainable water management).
This isn’t just policy – it’s people-powered change. By reducing emissions at the source, we safeguard miners’ livelihoods, boost economic viability through cleaner gold yields, and heal ecosystems for future generations. The Overarching Framework’s emphasis on innovation means ATRA can pilot solutions like retorts to capture 95% of mercury vapours for reuse, turning a toxic cycle into a circular one.
Joining the GMP is more than a membership – it’s a pledge to action. At ATRA, we’re eager to connect with fellow professionals, organizations, and innovators in sustainability, mining, and public health.
Let’s build on this momentum: Share your insights, partner on projects, or simply amplify this message.
For more on the GMP and Minamata Convention, visit UNEP Global Mercury Partnership.
Together, we’re making mercury history – one responsible mine at a time.
