The UN General Assembly last week adopted a special resolution recognizing the devastating human impact of conflicts fuelled by the trade in illicit diamonds, while reaffirming support for the Kimberley Process initiative aimed at halting their flow into legitimate markets.

The resolution, based on deliberations at the KP Plenary held in Anogla last November, was introduced by Bernardo Campos (Angola), immediate past KP Chair. It was unanimously adopted by the Assembly.

Stressing that the widest possible participation in the KP was essential, the resolution called upon participants to continue to articulate and improve rules and procedures so as to further enhance the Scheme’s effectiveness.

Specifically, the UN Assembly welcomed recent steps by the Mano River Union countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone) to generate a new impetus for further regional cooperation in terms of compliance with it.

It also recognised the important contributions that international efforts to address the question of conflict diamonds had made to the settlement of conflicts and the consolidation of peace in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Campos said that “when Governments work together with the private sector and civil society organizations, they can ensure that the legitimate trade in diamonds helps countries reduce poverty”. 

He also noted that United Arab Emirates had been elected Chair and Australia Vice-Chair for 2016, and added that a KP Monitoring Team led by Angola had carried out a review visit to Côte d’Ivoire, which allowed that country to resume exports of rough, while a review mission to the Central African Republic had enabled the resumption of rough diamond exports from compliance zones in July 2015. 

Antonio Parenti, Head of the Economic, Trade and Development Section of the European Union,  and Chair of the Working Group on Monitoring called for all participants to host a review visit every three years and welcomed the commitment shown to consider recommendations contained in the FATF report of the Financial Action Task Force relating to risks in the diamond supply chain. 

David Roet (Israel) said that  thanks to concerted global commitment, 99 per cent of all diamonds sold today were certified “conflict-free”. He emphasized that civil society must be fully involved, particularly in monitoring implementation.

Nkoloi Nkoloi (Botswana), noting that his country was a founding member of Kimberley, stressed the importance of ethical trade in rough diamonds.  Members were required to uphold high standards in certifying that shipments entering and exiting their territories were legitimate. He said KP had helped ensure that diamonds were a source of economic development rather than a catalyst for civil war.