During 2000, South African countries with a legitimate diamond trade began a campaign to track the origins of all rough diamonds, attempting to halt the sales of stones from conflict areas. Their efforts eventually resulted in implementing the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), an international effort to rid the world of conflict diamonds.
While the KPCS is a positive step towards protecting the legitimate diamond industry and consumers from purchasing conflict diamonds, much reform is still needed. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme has developed a narrow definition of conflict diamonds that does not include polished stones and jewelry and could exclude diamonds originating from recognized governments such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It's difficult for most of us to imagine what life must be like in countries where diamonds are the source of so much chaos and suffering. It's also not something that is reported heavily in the press nor is it something we normally think about when we are shopping for diamonds?
We suggest take some time to learn more about the problems that conflict diamonds are creating and then follow your heart the next time you shop for a diamond. Even with diamond certification there is no guarantee that a diamond purchase will not be a conflict diamond.
Credits:
Excerpts for this article were taken from
an article written by Carly Wickell at
