Diamonds Without Borders: An Assessment of the Challenges of Implementing and Enforcing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme

Recognizing the importance of strengthening efforts to address diamond smuggling, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Chair for 2010 (Boaz Hirsch) identified enforcement as a key priority for the Chairmanship of Israel. To support the Chair’s efforts to make progress on the issue of diamond smuggling (in particular, efforts to keep Ivorian diamonds from entering the black market) the United States funded national dialogues on diamond smuggling in four countries—Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Liberia—with the technical assistance of Partnership Africa Canada and financial support of the annual Congressional Earmark funded through USAID’s Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development Project (PRADD). The purpose of the workshops, which were convened by civil society organizations in each country, was to create a space for multi-stakeholder dialogue on diamond smuggling and the Kimberley Process. A broad and diverse range of organizations, including representatives of civil society organizations and governments from the Mano River Union countries, mine ministries, civil society, artisanal miners, union members, diamond dealers, customs and police, attended the workshops. The process culminated with an enforcement workshop in June 2010 in Tel Aviv that highlighted areas where enforcement capacity is lacking in the broader international context, as well as underscoring the immediate needs of West African nations, and produced a series of priority actions both at a multilateral and national level. The multilateral solutions include: Interagency cooperation, the proposed creation of a Working Group on Enforcement in the KP which would establish a work plan on enforcement, mechanisms for information sharing and trust building, and creating a trust fund on enforcement. The national solutions include: development solutions, governance solutions, and enforcement solutions.

Author(s): Partnership Africa Canada

ENFORCEMENT WORKSHOPS FINAL REPORT - English.pdf — PDF document, 480 kB (491545 bytes)