Diamonds & Conflict

• Illicit rough diamonds have been used by rebels to fund conflicts in Angola, Liberia, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Congo (also known as Congo Brazzaville). Therefore, diamonds have been directly responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people and indirectly for many more. In addition, millions of people were displaced, health and educational infrastructure was destroyed, and development was reversed.
• In the late 1990s conflict diamonds made up between 15% of the world's diamond production.
• Conflict diamonds have been reduced considerably to less than 1% since the implementation of the Kimberley Process in 2003.
• Ivory Coast is the only African diamond-producing country that still is under UN Security Council Resolution to prohibit the extraction and trade in diamonds.

Links

Find background on the impact of diamonds on conflicts in African countries.

PAC's historical overview of how diamonds have fuelled conflict in Africa.