Just as peace is not simply the absence of war, an end to conflict diamonds does not necessarily mean that diamonds will create prosperity or that human security will prevail in the areas where they are mined. The campaign to halt conflict diamonds has largely succeeded, although the phenomenon continues in Côte d’Ivoire, seemingly beyond the ingenuity and the powers of the 75 governments represented in the Kimberley Process (KP) and the world’s entire diamond industry. But the KP challenge today is not just Côte d’Ivoire; the larger challenge is to ensure that diamonds are controlled and tracked in ways that prevent a return of the much more deadly diamondfuelled wars of the past.
The report — Diamonds and Human Security Annual Review 2008 — concentrates on the three countries most seriously affected by diamond- fuelled conflict – Angola, DRC and Sierra Leone – but we have also included articles on countries touched by those conflicts, or where internal controls over diamonds, and where development considerations, remain
problematic.
* Read the report Diamonds and Human Security: Annual Review 2008 (October 2008, 24 p., pdf)