On September 21, 2010 the UN Pavilion at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai hosted a two-day forum of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its role in the modern world. The event took place during the week of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in the UN Pavilion at Expo 2010 held from September19 to 26.
The forums and workshops ran by the World Jewellery Confederation were an important part of the program organized by UNITAR in Shanghai to emphasize the importance of responsible attitude on the part of business community and its role in promoting the UN's Millennium Development Goals. It is noteworthy that almost at the same time, on September 20-22, 2010, New York hosted the UN Summit on Millennium Development Goals. It completed its work by adopting a global action plan to achieve eight goals to combat poverty by 2015 and announcing new major commitments to improve the health of women and children, as well as by putting forward other initiatives.
The CIBJO events were attended by more than 70 people, including 40 people who specially arrived to Shanghai for this event, where they were joined by more than 30 representatives of the pace-setting jewelry firms in China.
The two-day event in the UN Pavilion began with a jewellery industry focused session, organized by CIBJO, which reviewed the evolution of CSR in the jewellery sector over the past decade. Entitled “A 10-Year journey,” it traced events in the industry from the establishment of the Kimberley Process Certification to adoption of a proactive CSR policy by CIBJO, following its acceptance into the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2006.
Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, President of the World Jewellery Confederation, in his welcome address informed the conference participants of the main events on the 10-year path of evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in the jewelry industry. "What happened over the past 10 years is that we have become more appreciative of how our business impacts upon others, both negatively and positively, and we have used this knowledge to change the way in which we operate. Education and training about CSR are critical if one wishes to deploy the business community in the mission to fulfill the MDGs," Gaetano Cavalieri said.
Top line Italian designer Roberto Coin, whose jewelry pieces are known worldwide, is also a proactive member of the World Diamond Council and CIBJO. At a conference dedicated to the launch of a two-day forum of the World Jewellery Confederation at Expo 2010, he made a presentation entitled "A European jewellery manufacturers perspective: Implementing the Kimberley Process and CSR in your business" in which he described his own company’s experience in this area and showed the audience selected samples of his jewelry designs.
John Orrico, Senior Vice President at Birks and Mayors Inc., one of Canada’s leading jewellery retailers, spoke about how to implement the Kimberley process and corporate social responsibility in business. He stressed the importance of careful selection and monitoring of suppliers delivering jewelry materials and finished products in order to prevent penetration of products produced in violation of the Kimberley Process principles to the market. "Adopting an appropriate CSR policy is not optional. It is an expectation… a promise to all stakeholders and customers," John Orrick said at the conference.
President of the World Diamond Council Eli Itshakoff spoke about the key role played by WDC in the evolution of a structured approach to CSR in the jewellery sector to solve the conflict diamond crisis. “The Kimberley Process formally began operating in 2003, when participating countries started to implement its rules. Today, KP members account for approximately 99.8 percent of the global production of rough diamonds,” he said.
The conference also noted that joining the Kimberley Process did not always go smoothly. For example, the U.S. initially did not want to join the KP, pointing out that "only weapons can kill people, not diamonds," but later on this position was revised, and in 2003 the U.S. became a full member of the KP.
Carlos Lopes, Executive Director of UNITAR, also took part in the conference and in his welcoming speech to CIBJO forum participants paid special tribute to the “industry-wide transformation” that has taken place in the international jewellery sector under the aegis of CIBJO and WDC since the start of conflict diamond crisis more than10 years ago. In particular he highlighted the establishment of the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), which is dedicated to implement training programs and educate the jewellery business about the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Among other speakers at the CIBJO forum in Shanghai were Hanifa Mezoui, who in her capacity as head of the NGO section of ECOSOC was responsible for bringing CIBJO into the UN organization, for which purpose ECOSOC had to rewrite its membership manual for CIBJO by creating a new category called “entrepreneurial NGO”; Georges Brys, CEO of HRD Antwerp; Jonathan Kendall, Global Operations Director for DeBeers’ Forevermark; Lourens Mare, CEO of the Jewellery Council of South Africa; Hong Kong jeweler and consultant to the Hong Kong Jewelry Manufacturers Association (HKJMA) Aaron Shum; and others.
During the conference, Jonathan Kendall, who is also President of the CIBJO Marketing and Education Commission, introduced a new report on corporate social responsibility entitled "Responsible Luxury."
On its second day the forum held a roundtable discussion attended by the official representatives of the UN and Chinese government, members of the diplomatic corps in China, CSR experts, CIBJO members as well as by representatives of the Chinese jewellery community.
Olga Patseva, Editor of the Rough&Polished Asian Bureau in Shanghai
