21 Jun 2022

The Kimberly Process assures stakeholders that the diamond industry values peace and security, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi has said.

Speaking at the official opening of the Kimberly Process Intersessional meeting in Kasane on Monday, Mr Moagi said as a United Nations General Assembly entity, the process had become an important source of inspiration for conflict prevention in the global diamond trade.

He said Kimberly Process member states ensured that rough diamonds trade optimally contributed to sustainable development, peace and security, adding that its membership growth, with more still wishing to join, was an indication that the process was on the right path. Mr Moagi said the Kimberly Process had made it harder for rebel groups to finance wars through diamond trading.

“Transparency and good governance in natural resource management are now widely recognised as important tools for conflict prevention and peace building, mostly due to the  certification scheme,” he said.

Mr Moagi said the certification scheme had made significant contributions to many governments’ accountability system on resource revenues, by publishing statistics, diamond exports and imports per participant, amongst other things.

He said it was considered that the scheme would also contribute to building customer confidence that the goods they purchase were conflict free.

Mr Moagi said Botswana was honoured and privileged to be in the journey of the Kimberly Process and chairing it, at the challenging times, when the world’s economies and industries were still grappling with recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, a media release from the Kimberly Process Civil Society Coalition Coordinator, Dr Michel Yoboue stated that the intersessional meeting, where 85 participant countries came together with industry and civil society observers, happened at a critical time when one member was waging war against another.

“The fact that several participants are turning to unilateral measures to stop diamonds from funding this conflict, clearly demonstrates how the Kimberly Process and its certification scheme have reached their limits,” stated the release.

The release further states that the diamond industry associations are  being torn apart over their ties with Russia’s state-owned miner Alrosa and several of the world’s largest diamond and jewellery companies had, in the absence of international sanctions, decide to unilaterally stop sourcing Russian diamonds, which represent one third of the world’s diamond supply.

The intersessional meeting, themed: Diamonds, a Catalyst for Sustainable Development”  ends Friday. ENDs