The Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) is inviting comment on the draft standards for its ethical certification project.
A collaborative effort between civil society organizations (CSOs), governments, and industry, the standards aim to ensure diamonds are an engine for development for the world’s 1.5 million artisanal and small-scale miners. Specifically, the diamonds are certified as being produced responsibly, safely, with respect of human and communities’ rights, and in conflict-free zones. Additionally, the standards look to provide beneficiation to communities and payment of fair prices to miners.
The standards are now being tested in Sierra Leone, and will soon be applied in other countries. Â A third-party will verify the traceability of the diamonds from mine to market.
“At this stage, the main goal is to demonstrate proof-of-concept by piloting the development diamond standards on a small scale—and then tracing the diamonds produced from the mining site through to the retail end of the market,” says Ian Smillie, chair of DDI’s board of directors. “This is a very complex process and a lot of work still needs to be done, but the benefits to some of the world’s poorest people could be enormous.”
Artisanal and small-scale miners work largely informally and outside the reach of standards to which mining companies would normally have access.
“Over the development of this project, we’ve stressed the importance of a standards system that is credible, achievable by artisanal diamond miners, and viable for downstream actors in the global diamond pipeline as well,” says Dorothée Gizenga, DDI’s executive director. “This means the input we receive from the standards consultation will complement the feedback DDI is getting from the practical application and testing of the standards on the ground.”
Public comment is open until July 31 and can be sent to dds@ddiglobal.org. The draft standards can be found at www.ddiglobal.org/dds/reference-documents.php.
