ASM Among Key Security and Human Rights Risks Identified by VPI Members in 2025
September 28, 2026 •
Members of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Initiative (VPI) have identified the intensification of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) as a dominant theme of 2025. This dynamic is reshaping security risk profiles, increasing the frequency and severity of intrusions, and in some cases resulting in violent confrontations, injuries, and fatalities involving both security personnel and community members.
The findings are published in the VPI’s 2025 Annual Reports Highlights. Drawing on nearly 40 annual report submissions from VPI Members, the publication examines implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) throughout 2025. It highlights good practices, lessons learned, and emerging themes in increasingly complex operating environments.
Members also reported on their continued efforts to strengthen community engagement —a key aspect of implementation of the Principles. They noted that sustained dialogue helped identify grievances before they escalated into protest and conflict, and that communities regularly consulted were more likely to raise issues through dialogue rather than confrontation. Members operating in regions affected by artisanal mining described sustained investment in community education, alternative livelihood programs, and collaboration with local authorities to reduce incentives for illegal activity as part of community engagement activities.
Private security providers continued to play a central role in protecting operations in 2025. Throughout the year, companies reinforced security practices through pre-contract vetting, incorporation of Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights clauses into contracts, and oversight of private security providers. A defining trend was the increased use of the International Code of Conduct Association (ICoCA) certification or membership as a contractual requirement and as part of due diligence of private security providers.
New to the 2025 Annual Reports Highlights is an annex dedicated to Innovative or Leading Practices, presenting specific examples of how Members are strengthening implementation of the Principles. These include embedding public security liaison roles within company community engagement teams. The use of a custom, natural and non-lethal smoke-based dispersal tool, deployed alongside other remote monitoring technologies, were reported as means to reduce direct physical confrontation with intruders.
The wider publication covers Members’ work on several important areas such as risk assessments, security training, grievance mechanisms, and the protection of human rights defenders.
Read the complete 2025 Annual Reports Highlights:
To explore the annual reports submitted by our Members for 2025, please click here.
About the Voluntary Principles
The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) are an internationally recognized set of principles that guide companies on how to conduct their security operations while ensuring respect for human rights. To promote implementation of the Principles, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Initiative (VPI) was created. The Initiative comprises over 80 Members and Observers including companies, governments, and non-governmental organizations that share best practices and mutually support the implementation of the Principles.