The sale of rough diamonds has long funded conflict and military action in areas controlled by factions opposing legitimate or internationally recognized governments in Africa. These conflicts are brutal and inhumane, they cost thousands of lives not to mention countless limbs, and they can continue indefinitely given enough funding, given enough people willing to purchase diamonds from these sources. The diamonds smuggled and sold to fuel these forces have been labeled as ‘conflict diamonds’. Movies, such as ‘Blood Diamond’ have been made to draw attention to this issue.

In 2000, two important events happened with regard to conflict diamonds. First, in May in Kimberley, South Africa, the Southern African diamond producing nations met to discuss methods of ensuring that diamonds would not fund conflict. Then in December, the UN adopted a resolution supporting an international certification scheme designed to break the link between the illicit diamond trade and armed conflict.

By November of 2002 there was an agreement in place on a process to certify diamonds (the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme - KPCS). The process involves transparency along with import and export controls and participating nations now produce ‘Kimberley’ certified diamonds. It is now possible to buy diamonds and ‘know’ that they have not funded military action, indeed they have been produced and distributed in a fair and legal manner.

Tags: 'Kimberley' certified diamonds, Blood Diamond, conflict diamonds, diamond producing nations, illicit diamond trade, Kimberley Process, KPCS, purchase diamonds, rough diamonds, Southern African diamond

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 7:45 pm and is filed under Diamonds, Jewelry Basics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.