Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.

On Thursday 8 November, Fatal Transactions organised, in partnership with Broederlijk Delen and MO* Magazine, a debate on natural resources and development in Congo and Africa. A mixed audience of about 150 students, NGO activists, government and private sector representatives gathered in Brussels to discuss the subject “Blood Diamonds versus Development Diamonds”.

The starting point of the evening was the film “Africa: war is business”, a picture on the brutal reality of mining business in Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Due to a technical problem, the end of the film could not be shown, but the tone was set: mining remains a dirty business and natural resources often fuel conflicts rather than development.

After the film, Axel Delvoie (advisor Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs), Mark Van Bockstael (Chairman Technical Committee - World Diamond Council), Marc-Olivier Herman (Policy Unit - Broederlijk Delen) and Dorothée Gizenga Ngolo (Programme Manager Partnership Africa Canada) were invited to participate in the debate.

The participants touched the following questions: How flexible is Kimberley? Is it an option to expand the Kimberley definition? Is the Kimberley Certification Scheme applicable to other mining activities? How far do governments and companies go to ensure that natural resources become a tool for development?

Marc Van Bockstael was convinced that an expansion of the Kimberley definition would signify the end of the Process. According to him, it was thanks to the narrow definition of the Kimberley Process (a Certification Scheme set up for the exclusion of rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments) that different States and companies came to an agreement and that the implementation of an effective control mechanism succeeded. Mr. Van Bockstael stated that other initiatives, like for instance the Diamond Development Initiative, should find answers to social conflicts and development questions. Axel Delvoie, emphasised the pioneer role of the Belgian government and the Antwerp Diamond Market, in the development and application of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

The NGOs think, however, that the private mining sector should go further than that. Marc-Olivier Herman explained that a conflict-free diamond is more than a diamond not used to finance rebellion movements. Violence also comprises social conflicts, negative effects on the environment in the mining areas and violence used by private state companies against labourers, who work for 1 dollar a day in a dangerous and unhealthy environment. Dorothée Gizenga Ngolo asked attention for the other side of the business: the traffic in arms. Natural resources are exchanged for weapons. Why is Kimberley concentrated on only one part of the transaction?

It was an interesting debate on a complex subject. Time was limited, and perhaps not all questions were answered. Fatal Transactions and Broederlijk Delen continue the struggle for economic justice. NGOs are not against mining activities, but want to see that natural resources become an important tool for development in different regions.