Industry and government leaders will converge on Vicenza, Italy, in May to discuss ways to strengthen the Kimberley Process (KP).
The first seminar will focus on creating structured training development programs to support KP compliance through corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and supporting the goals and objectives of the United Nations and the UN Global Compact. The second seminar will look at the establishment of systems to enable monitoring, certification, and labelling of ethical jewellery.
Representatives from the United Nations, European Community, national governments, the KP, and diamond and jewellery industries will be in attendance. Panelists include KP chair, Ambassador Gillian A. Milovanovic, and Carlos Lopes, UN assistant secretary-general and the executive director of the United Nations Institute for Training and Development (UNITAR).
The seminars are being hosted by Antwerp International Training Center for Corporate Opportunities and will be held on May 15.
“The presence in Vicenza of so many figures involved in the leadership of the Kimberley Process and the jewellery and diamond sectors provides us with a special opportunity to look at the role of the industry in promoting CSR, and by so doing, advancing the development goals of the United Nations,” Lopes said. “Our goal in conducting this seminar is to consider the challenges and opportunities, and to chart a path for moving forward together by sharing knowledge and practices.”
Eli Izhakoff, president of the World Diamond Council (WDC), called the seminars’ focus on education a “critical component.”
“In the years since the launch of the Kimberley Process, we have been increasingly aware the effectiveness of the system is not only a factor of the regulatory systems that are put in place by the member countries, but also of the way in which the KP is understood and implemented at the grassroots level throughout the chain of distribution,” he added.
The seminars are being held as part of the World Jewelry Forum, which is being hosted by the Fiera di Vicenza from May 13 to May 23.
