Why the KP?

A richness in the form of natural resources can be found all around the world. Diamonds are one of those, particularly in Africa. When managed in a sustainable way, the wealth associated with diamonds could speed up the process of eradicating poverty and effectively fuel development in Africa and elsewhere. Unfortunately, many developing countries rich in diamonds have not taken this path. Governments have often failed to redistribute diamond revenues to their population and were unable to manage the natural richness for the better of the country. Instead, diamonds have been used to fuel various deadly conflicts in Africa. Rebel armies in Angola, the DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea used diamonds to pay for weapons. Diamonds, therefore, contributed directly to the death of hundreds of thousands of people. As a result, diamonds from these and other countries have popularly been called ´blood diamonds´. The KP strives to make all diamonds free from conflict.