Troubled waters in the Kasai. Pollution by the Angolan diamond industry and culpable negligence by the Congolese government
September 2, 2022Late July 2021, local media first reported on the brownish-red discoloration of hundreds of kilometers of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Tshikapa and Kasai rivers due to pollution from ‘industrial diamond mines’ in neighbouring Angola. About a year after the news reached the world press, hardly anything has been heard about the environmental disaster.
Report of high-level workshop on the fight against fraud and smuggling of rough diamonds in Central Africa
February 14, 2022Regional Cooperation to Enhance the Implementation of the Kimberley Process in Central Africa In December 2021, the Working Group on Artisanal and Alluvial Production (WGAAP) of the Kimberley Process (KP) and the Cameroonian government hosted the second Central African regional cooperation workshop in Yaoundé to build understanding, share experiences and formulate recommendations on the fight agai
IPIS Briefing September 2021 – Some thoughts on diamonds, brides and marketing lies
October 7, 2021The IPIS briefing offers a selection of articles, news and updates on natural resources, armed conflict, Business & Human Rights and arms trade. Every month, an editorial and related publications shed a light on a specific topic in IPIS’ areas of research. In focus: Some Thoughts on Diamonds, Brides and Marketing Lies. In the news: U.N. Footage From Northern Ethiopia Shows Humanitarian Crisis
Guide to Current Mining Reform Initiatives in Eastern DRC
April 17, 2011US legislation has brought on a variety of initiatives aiming at mining reform in EDRC. This paper describes the basic elements of these initiatives, their genesis, the current state of affairs, the inkages between the initiatives and the main challenges they face. Further, the paper briefly evaluates the initiatives while focussing on the steps ahead. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. ht
Culprits or scapegoats? Revisiting the role of Belgian mineral traders in eastern DRC
May 17, 2009Ever since the eruption of the second Congo war in August 1998, the mining sector in eastern DRC has been under scrutiny of UN Sanctions Committees, academics, NGOs, and local and international media, who have been worried and disturbed by the links between natural resource exploitation and armed conflict in the region. It has been argued that both state and non-state armed actors are deriving ben
The Kimberley Process and the UN: Lessons Learned
February 14, 2008The United Nations, mainly through the UNSC and the UNGA, has played an important role in the genesis and development of the KPCS, an international control regime aimed at preventing conflict diamonds to enter into the legitimate trade. The earliest forerunner of the KPCS stems from an embargo imposed by the UNSC in June 1998 on unofficial diamonds from Angola. UNSC Resolution 1173 prohibited all
The State versus the people? Governance, Mining and the Transitional Regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo: the Case of Katanga
June 5, 2006Resource Extraction and Transparency, in: OPENSPACE Vol. 1, no. 4, Open society initiative for Southern Africa, June 2006. Download in pdf or open with issuu reader. http://issuu.com/ipisresearch/docs/juli_2006_artikel_osisa
De Congolese politiek als sleutel tot een rationeel beheer van natuurlijke rijkdommen
May 5, 2006De bodem van de Democratische Republiek Congo (DRC) herbergt een fabelachtige schat aan natuurlijke rijkdommen. In de regio van Ituri vind je enorme goudafzettingen, de Kivus bevatten grote concentraties columbo-tantaliet (‘coltan’) en cassiteriet, diamant wordt gedolven in de Kasaï provincies, en doorheen het zuiden van Katanga loopt de Centraal- Afrikaanse ‘copper belt’ die respectievelijk 34 en
The State vs. the People. Governance, mining and the transitional regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo
March 27, 200627/03/2006 PRESS RELEASE Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa – Fatal Transactions Fatal Transactions publishes DR Congo report – The State versus The People Fair distribution of DRC natural wealth undermined by poor administration and corruption in transitional government Three years of transitional government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has led to anything but stability and ec
Wapentrafieken in de regio van de grote meren: Tanzania
June 2, 2005Aan IPIS, vzw werd gevraagd een studie te maken over de problematiek van de illegale wapentrafieken in de regio van de grote meren, en de repercussies voor het Belgisch buitenlands beleid. Aansluitend bij de politieke actualiteit werd de kwestie van de licentie verstrekt door het Waals Gewest aan New Lachaussée voor de levering van een productielijn voor munitie in Tanzania als concreet voorbeeld
