Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, noting that Australia was the outgoing Chair of the Kimberley Process — established by the United Nations in 2003 to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the mainstream market - said that scheme had made a valuable contribution to international security, development and human rights.
“Fifteen years ago […] the global diamond trade looked very different than that of today. At that time, diamonds were mined in conflict zones, while at the other end of the supply chain, customers had little or no way to know where the diamonds had originated. The Kimberley Process cut the flow of diamonds to insurgencies and rebel groups, who would sacrifice peace and development for their own power,” she said.
Antonio Parenti, speaking on behalf of the European Union, noted that the bloc — which had been at the forefront of the Kimberley Process from since its inception — had been selected to Chair the certification scheme for 2018. Welcoming the decision to set up an Ad Hoc Committee on Review and Reform, which would enhance administrative and financial support to the Process, he pledged to use the 2018 Chairmanship to promote open dialogue among the three pillars of the Kimberley Process: Governments, industry and civil society.
Noa Furman (Israel) declared: “ What had appeared as an unprecedented goal in 2003 had today become a reality, with 99.8 per cent of the world’s diamonds being considered conflict‑free”.
In his opening remarks to the U.N. panel discussion, Stephane Fischler, Acting President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), said, “The first ever mineral-based global mechanism to contribute to settling armed conflicts, the KP has over its relatively young life significantly contributed to peace and security, and so, enabling the diamond industry to support and create employment, income and livelihoods for millions of people.”
Noting that a vast number of diamond industry companies and their principals have shown for decades that “diamonds” do transform lives, he said that it is proved by the prime examples of Botswana and Yakutia in the Russian Federation and even the smallest companies in India, Belgium, Israel, the US and many others.
“The risk of conflict fueled by a mix of lack of capacity, transparency, toxic politics, corruption, greed, outside intervention and the presence of precious minerals such as diamonds, gold, coltan and others is ongoing. But it need not to be that way,” he said, adding that as the voice of industry in the KP, the WDC believes that in this important year of KP Review, there are three areas in urgent need of reform: 1. Expanding the meaning and scope of conflict diamonds to increase the likelihood of safe and secure working conditions, fair labor practices and sustainable development in diamond communities. 2. Adding a permanent secretariat in a neutral country, a crucial role for strengthening the long-term implementation of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme by improving the implementation of KP agreed decisions, more effectively restoring KPCS implementation in sanctioned countries and better supporting development projects in Participant countries. 3. Strengthening the KPCS minimum standards by making the peer review mechanism stronger.
Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels