NGOs Call For More Action on KP

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(Rapaport…June 8, 2005) Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada have urged that more must be done to ensure that the Kimberely Process works effectively and credibly to prevent diamonds from ever again fuelling conflict.

The NGOs said in a release on June 7 that five years after its creation the Kimberley Process, the diamond industry still has difficulty preventing conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade. They added that diamonds continue to fuel conflict in eastern DRC and are also playing a role in the conflict in Cote D’Ivoire, two countries participating in the Kimberley Process.

According to the two organizations, there are significant problems in the collection and analysis of diamond production and trade statistics, which are essential to the detection of conflict diamonds.

The organizations stated that it is crucial that a three year review of the Kimberley Process, scheduled to be completed by 2006, is carried out by a team of independent evaluators who can impartially assess the process and identify ways of improvement. There is currently a debate about whether the review should be internal or external, stated the release.