On 9 April, at the foot of Hanyanya Mountain in rural Bikita, Zimbabwe, a powerful gathering brought together women from the Vatombe community, activists, researchers, and allies to launch our report 'Women on the Frontlines of the Extraction of Transition Minerals: A Vision for a Just Future.'

The launch built on months of dialogue and feminist participatory action research, following a workshop held in September 2024, during which local women shared stories of resistance, resilience, and hope in the face of expanding lithium mining operations in the region.

As global demand for transition minerals such as lithium accelerates in the shift towards cleaner energy, the report raises urgent questions about whose lives are being disrupted—and whose voices are being ignored. It documents the gendered impacts of extraction in Bikita, showing how women—often primary caregivers, subsistence farmers, and custodians of cultural and ecological knowledge—are disproportionately affected.

The report details a range of pressing concerns: threats to land rights and the risk of displacement, diminished access to clean water, environmental degradation, growing health risks, and the intensification of unpaid care work. At the same time, women are routinely excluded from economic opportunities and decision-making spaces related to mining activities.

Yet the publication does more than highlight harms. It centres the visions and voices of women imagining a different kind of future—one grounded in sustainable agriculture, equitable access to renewable energy, ecological stewardship, and community self-determination.

At the launch event, women from Hanyanya Mountain gave powerful testimonies about the challenges they face and the futures they are actively shaping. Their stories reaffirmed the urgent need for a gender-just, rights-based approach to the energy transition that respects and elevates the leadership and knowledge of women living on the frontlines.

This publication, developed in collaboration with the Hanyanya community and the Shine Collab, forms part of a broader commitment to ensuring that the global shift to clean energy does not come at the expense of the communities, particularly women, who are essential to building truly sustainable futures.

You can read the full report here.

You can watch the stories of the community here.