NEWS

Conflict diamonds are real, real talk is rare

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IPIS is a member of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition which works for better rights of communities affected by diamond mining. A new video of the Coalition highlights that conflict diamonds are not a thing of the past. The video shows jewelers the testimonies of Progress, Héritier and Ibrahim, community members from Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, who suffer the consequences of irresponsible diamond mining. Progress, Héritier and Ibrahim were brave to share their story, but they are far from the only ones. Tens of thousands of villagers in diamond mining areas across the globe continue to live with conflict today. 

With this video the KP CSC seeks to make a connection between mine and market, as we believe mining communities and retailers share many similar interests, but know little about each other’s realities. 

The Coalition will therefore link this video with a series of virtual events bringing both ends of the diamond supply chain together. In this manner we aim to develop a new, unified voice in the conversation around responsible sourcing of diamonds. We believe that jointly, retailers and mining communities, can have stronger leverage over the industry and governmental actors that have set the seemingly intractable rules of the game. The first of these online conversations will take place on March 16, 2021.