Africa is known for two things in most parts of the world; unmatched bloodshed as a result of political instability, and diamonds. Most often than not, these diamonds are utilized to fund the conflicts in africa , resulting in more intense and violent engagements. Only recently have the effects of these blood diamonds been discussed, and people are debating what to do to curb their production.
It is estimated that about 8.5 billion dollars worth of diamonds come from African countries each year (Diamond Facts). Being such a profitable business, African militias and terror groups take advantage of the diamond trade and use it to fund their causes. The primary consumers of these diamonds are people living in places like the U.S and other first world countries.
The adverse effects of the Blood Diamond Industry result in the displacement and death of millions across the globe. The people most affected by this industry are the people living in such countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thousands of people living in these parts of Africa are being used as slaves by the terror groups to mine for these diamonds (Armstrong). In addition, the expanded cash flow to these groups, increases intensity and frequency of violence which in turn injures or kills more people. Recently, these repercussions have led to more and more being done to help quell the production of blood diamonds.
Only as of recently has the issue of blood diamonds been suppressed through countermeasures thoroughly enough for it to stop being a constant issue. One such countermeasure is diamond certification plan known as the Kimberley Process. A result of discussions on how to stop the mining of blood diamonds, the KP is an agreement by the United Nations, European Union, the governments of 74 other countries, as well as independent organizations. The KP requires suppliers of rough diamonds to provide sufficient evidence as well as a certificate with any shipment declaring the are non-conflict involved diamonds (Amnesty International). As a result this process has placed a chokehold on the production of blood diamonds, allowing for 99% of diamonds produced to be conflict free (Diamond Facts).
The deadly combination of war and greed was able to throw parts of Africa into bloody conflict and a battle for finances. Fortunately, due to acts like the Kimberley Project, the amount of people becoming injured or killed in connection to the blood diamond trade is dwindling significantly. In addition, the large effort to cooperate and discuss ways to limit blood diamonds as well as examine the effects has been instrumental to the end of the mining for blood diamonds. Without these countermeasures in place to stifle the production of blood diamonds, war-torn parts of Africa would most likely stay bloody and violent as they have been.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Paul. "What Are 'conflict Diamonds?' - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 5 Dec. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.
"Blood Diamonds? Calls to Ban the Trade in Diamonds from Zimbabwe; Are Diamonds from Zimbabwe Tainted?" Global Issues in Context. Gale Group, 6 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 Mar. 2015.
"Brilliant Earth." Brilliant Earth. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
"Conflict Diamonds." Amnesty International USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
"Conflict Diamonds." Conflict Diamonds. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.
"Diamondfacts.org." - Conflict Diamonds. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.
Good job on this article! I don't know that much about the diamond industry, so it was interesting to hear all of this new information (like I had no idea $8.5 billion worth of diamonds comes from Africa). I also noticed in your speech that you mentioned "the primary consumers of these diamonds are people living in places like the U.S and other first world countries". It's shocking to me that even with this knowledge, the U.S. continues to support such a corrupt industry.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the blood diamond trade, which I imagined to currently still be very large, has been able to be almost entirely avoided through the verification of diamonds not procured through conflict. However, would the conflict over diamond starting to die out give rise to other forms of conflict that could possibly be worse?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite aspect of this article was your awesome title because it is hilarious to me in my half-awake state. Your article was very well-written as well and you make some good points without being too persuasive. This connects to the US because we are the ones funding the diamond trade in Africa and because I own diamond jewelry and now wonder where it came from. A follow up question I have is how can one tell if something has passed the KP?
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