Saturday 24 September 2011

Courageous film-making on the trade in minerals

Yesterday, I went along to see a film featured as part of the "Take One Action" festival showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre.  The Scottish Premiere of "Blood in the Mobile" directed by Frank Poulsen was an eye opener for me. It exposes the links between the Congo's civil war and the supply of minerals to the electronics industry. This film brings to light issues that I had very little knowledge of and cannot ignore.

The director is centre stage in the film as he makes a courageous journey to the mining area of the Congo which supplies the minerals. The mines are established on mountainsides within the jungle and families are involved in working under mining conditions we could associate with the 1830s. There are child labourers caught up in deep mining which puts their lives at risk on a daily basis.

At the end of the film, we heard from the Frank Poulsen, the Director and Kathy Galloway from Christian Aid. They set out the work that is going on to change this horrific situation. Please take action and promote the use of conflict-free minerals in the electronics industry amongst friends, colleagues and the wider community.

Useful links:-

Blood in the Mobile - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_in_the_Mobile

Christian Aid - http://www.christianaid.org.uk/ActNow/trace-the-tax/index.aspx

Global Witness - http://www.globalwitness.org/campaigns/conflict/conflict-minerals

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