Attracting financing has been difficult, however, and the future of the organization has been in doubt in recent years.  In order to address this concern,  stakeholders from the private sector, government, and civil society met on June 28-29 at the World Bank to thrash out the prospects for this network. In spite of the difficulties, participants applauded the World Bank CASM team for its efforts to promote the endeavor with very limited resources. Throughout the two days of the roundtable, many ideas were conceived and supported for further discussion.

“This sector is not recognized as an economic sector. It is not recognized as part of the social sector although it has a large impact on both areas. Finding the right home for CASM is a challenge,” commented Laura Barreto from the Alliance for Responsible Mining in Canada.

Keven Telmer from the Artisanal Gold Council noted that CASM was not represented at the recent Global Mercury Conference where delegates from 120 countries congregated. The delegates recognized the importance of ASM to their economies and expressed  interest in treating the problem holistically.

Going forward, all agreed that CASM should continue. The form and focus will be laid out by a planning committee which will prepare a strategic options paper and a business plan for submission to other members and presentation at the next CASM annual conference.  It is expected that a better, stronger CASM will emerge after this.