In his speech during the opening session of the recent 2019 Intersessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process (KP), World Diamond Council president Stephane Fischler urged KP member countries to optimise the developmental opportunities provided by natural resources by protecting the interests of mining communities.
The meeting took place in Mumbai, India, and was the first of two KP meetings to be held in that country this year, which is the last year of a three-year KP reform and review process.
“We must agree that the KP should ensure that each government takes responsibility to ensure a chain of provenance, earning the trust of consumers wherever they are, and, in so doing, produce the revenues that must filter back to the grassroots of the mining communities,” he said. “The KP has a one-time opportunity to make a difference in countries where the diamond industry has not yet met its developmental potential.”
“We need you, the country representatives, to have the courage to look into the eyes of your own people – the men, women and children active and living in the diamond mining areas,” he emphasised. “They ask that they be allowed to live, rather than simply survive. They request safety and security for themselves and their families, and to be dignified with a proper wage, so that they may build a better future for themselves and their children, and contribute proudly as citizens.”
Hitherto, a very important element in allowing a country to economically benefit from its diamond resources was that it enjoyed relative peace and security. “There is a dramatic disparity between the development level of those countries and the others that suffered the tragedy of civil war,” he pointed out. “Only today are some slowly realising the opportunities that their commodities could offer in helping maintain the peace and allowing for nation building . . . We strongly believe that, by helping eliminate the trade in diamonds directly associated with instances of systemic violence, we can bring about a more responsible and ethical mining sector, enabling a fairer distribution of the benefits delivered to millions of people.”
Regarding the reform and review process, Fischler described reform as being focused on improving the KP’s internal processes, while review looked at more fundamental issues. He gave the assurance that the diamond industry and civil society, as observers in the KP, would do their utmost to support beneficial changes. But it would be up to governments to agree on any required changes to the KP. “We are relying on each of you, during this final year of the review and reform process, to show the consumers of diamonds that the KP can unite around a programme that will ensure better care and protection of your brothers and sisters.”
The issues being discussed during this process include simplifying and improving the consistency of the KP’s core document, strengthening the peer-review mechanism, setting up a permanent secretariat, considering an industry proposal to expand the definition of conflict diamonds, and creating a multidonor fund to make certain that all actors in the KP will be able to take a full part in it.