There's a whitepaper from the WEF about this. Their proposal for improvement is not to abolish the artisanal scale operations (ASM) in favor of the large scale operations (LSM). But rather to actually formalize ASM operations to the extent they can still ensure a ethic/safe practice. This is based on the finding that the ~30% ASM operations in the DRC are not going away, so it might as well be done safely instead of discouraged.
If you care about Cobalt, I guess this is worth a read.
www.weforum.org
Promote ASM formalization
Adopt common standards and metrics
Establish a monitoring and assessment process
Share knowledge and responsibility