WDC welcomes UN General Assembly resolution on reform of KP

The World Diamond Council has welcomed the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on March 1, which calls for a strengthening of the Kimberley Process (KP), to more effectively sever the link between the illicit transaction of rough diamonds and armed conflict, thereby contributing to the maintenance of international peace and, in particular, security and sustainable development in artisanal diamond-mining regions. The resolution, which was proposed by the European Union (EU), was ratified by consensus by the members of the 193-member UNGA body.

On February 28, Fischler was a featured speaker during a special meeting organized by the EU as part of the UNGA's 73rd Session, entitled "From blood diamonds to peace diamonds: conflict prevention through the Kimberley Process." Noting the effectiveness of the KP in helping eliminate the trade in diamonds being used to finance civil war, he nonetheless said that the system has been ineffective to date in reducing other forms of systemic violence.

"I will be blunt," the WDC President told the special meeting. "Thus far the KP has failed to properly stem the incidence of 'systemic violence,' nor to reduce the tenuousness of stability in artisanal mining communities and the lack of development opportunities. However, with the KP currently in the final year of its review and reform cycle, it today has a unique opportunity to prove its potential of relieving millions of artisanal miners and their families, of the predicament they currently face."

"[I]t is up to the UN and the KP member states to assure the future relevance of the Kimberley Process," Fischler continued. "Standing before this assembly today I can assure you of my colleague's support in heeding the call of the millions of artisanal miners, their families and communities that they finally share the same security and opportunities enjoyed by other members of our diamond industry, and so be able to provide their own countries, which are often in dire need of long-term development, with a more sustained income."