Programme Brief: Extractive Industries, Gender and Conflict in Asia Pacific

The exploitation of oil and mineral deposits is becoming more intensive across Asia and the Pacific. Rapid industrialization and the development of technologies have led to new large-scale mines and discoveries of ore deposits throughout the region. These new technologies also mean that extraction can take place in sensitive, remote and unstable environments – the same environments that are often sites of recent or ongoing conflict.

This instability and conflict, combined with genderblind policies and practices of extractive industries, mean that women are exposed to violence, routinely denied access to and control over the benefits of the industry, and their needs and interests are excluded from decision-making processes.

This brief offers an overview of the issues surrounding extractive industries, conflict and gender in the Asia Pacific region, as well as recommendations for UN and international stakeholders on addressing these problems.