UN Security Council and Kimberley Process Move Forward on Conflict

International organizations including the UN Security Council and the UN-backed Kimberley Process have taken significant action against conflict diamonds in the past two months, leading some observers to suggest that the international community is working to seriously address the illicit diamond trade. On November 15, 2005, source countries and industry representatives reached an agreement seeking to limit international traffic in African "conflict diamonds." These diamonds, which originate in areas involved in ongoing armed conflicts, have been linked to internecine civil conflict throughout Africa. The various parties agreed to the new measures at a Moscow plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process, a UN General Assembly-backed initiative that began with South African diamond producing states in 2000 ? [more]