Belgium leads the fight against conflict diamonds

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders opens today the annual plenary session of the Kimberley Process at the Egmont Palace in Brussels. The Kimberley Process is the global platform in the fight against the trade in conflict diamonds.

The plenary, which is being held under the presidency of the European Union and with the support of Belgium, will bring together all participating countries, industry representatives and civil society organisations throughout the week at an important time for the global diamond trade. For Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders, the Kimberley Process has proven to be a successful and effective partnership between public authorities, industry and civil society around the world to prevent conflict diamonds from landing in the legitimate trade in rough diamonds.

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But the challenges are changing and important work remains to be done, not only to completely eradicate conflict diamonds, but also to put the diamond sector on a transparent and sustainable path.

Due to Antwerp’s importance in the diamond trade, our country was one of the pioneers of the Kimberley Process certification scheme. Since its inception in 2002, it has significantly curbed the trade in conflict diamonds.

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The Truth ! #Africa #BloodDiamonds

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The share of conflict diamonds in the global trade in rough diamonds has fallen from 15% at the time to 0.2% today. The ongoing reform process must make it possible to go further, by anchoring a logic of sustainability, inclusiveness and dialogue throughout the chain of rough diamond extraction and trade.

The will to broaden the debate on natural resource management led last year to the organisation of the first « African Diamond Conference ». This conference brought together 15 African diamond producing countries in Brussels at the initiative of the Antwerp World Diamond Council (AWDC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Didier Reynders is delighted on this occasion to see South Africa’s interest in continuing this initiative and organising a second edition of this conference next year, with the support of Belgium and the AWDC, in order to strengthen dialogue with African diamond producing countries.

The fight against blood diamonds and the engagement for good global governance of the diamond sector is part of Belgium’s continued commitment to shaping the global debate on natural resources, often linked to peace and security issues.

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The mandate on the Security Council in 2019-2020 will provide Belgium with a new opportunity to continue our efforts to place transparency and sustainability at the centre of natural resource management.