(Rapaport… April 15, 2003) De Beers director of Public and Corporate Affairs, Rory More O’Ferrall, told 150 delegates at a conference in Washington, D.C. on April 10, 2003, that the Kimberly Process is “not a perfect construct.” He identified three key challenges facing the Kimberley Process: credibility, engagement and ethical accountability.
In order to be credible, O’Ferrall explained that governments participating in the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme must address the remaining shortcomings in the monitoring and auditing of the Scheme itself. He also appealed to the industry to help governments, in countries where the mining sector is less formalized and based on alluvial diggings, to devise ways to beneficiate local communities.
Next O’Ferrall emphasized the responsibility of governments to “engage” and not “shrug off” countries wracked by poverty, hunger and corruption and to help them develop their political and economic potential. However, he advised that “help” should be conditional on these countries demonstrating real reform.
According to O’Ferrall, the third critical challenge to the Kimberly Process is the ethical accountability and transparency of the diamond industry itself.
O’Ferrall added that the possible link between illicitly traded diamonds and terrorism has made the conflict diamonds issue one of international security: “We must insulate our industry from any suggestion of involvement in activities that threaten the security of the societies in which we live and work. The Kimberley Process –firmly enforced by national legislation–provides that insulation.”
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