Company: De Beers (a member of the UK Network)
Project: Mwadui 'Community Diamond' Partnership

Background: Diamonds, development and poverty alleviation in Africa
Diamonds have for decades helped to provide economic growth for South African, Botswana and Namibia. This has contributed to stable, democratic rule and investment in education and health. Such benefits have not been enjoyed in West and Central Africa where small scale informal diamond mining and civil war during the late 1990s led to what is known as 'conflict diamonds'. While peace and the multistakeholder Kimberley Process (KP) now ensures that 99.8% of world diamond flows are certified by the Process as 'conflict free' production, the unlicensed nature of informal (or artisanal) mining means that miners are prey to 'rogue traders'and do not receive a fair price for their stones. Numbering approximately 1.3 million with about 13 million dependents, these miners produce an estimated US$1.7 billion worth of diamonds each year, but subsist on less than US$1 a day. Nor are governments that are home to informal diamond mining receiving their fair share of revenue. This limits their ability to invest in post-conflict reconstruction; so peace is fragile.

A multistakeholder partnership to make poverty history
A common desire to address this challenge led to the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) in early 2005. The Initiative was first conceived by De Beers and those NGOs that in 1998 identified the conflict diamonds problem - Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada. DDI's mission is: 'To gather all interested parties into a process that will address, in a comprehensive way, the political, social and economic challenges facing the artisanal diamond mining sector in order to optimize the beneficial development impact of artisanal diamond mining to miners and their communities within the countries in which the diamonds are mined.' The next step is to put these words into action - which is De Beers'pledge.

Starting in Tanzania: the De Beers - Mwadui 'Community Diamond'Partnership
Guided by the mission of DDI and in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, local NGOs and international organisations on-the-ground, De Beers will commit the resources and skills required to generate practical solutions to address the socio-economic, health, technical and regulatory issues arising from the unmanaged, informal small scale diamond industry of Tanzania. The 'Community Diamond' project will be led by De Beers in Years 1 and 2, with a strong focus on partnerships and local capacity building for the benefit of informal miners. It aims to be self-sufficient by Year 3. The goal is to produce a viable model for transfer to other informal diamond producing countries, such as Sierra Leone, Angola, Guinea or DRC. Speaking at the 32nd World Diamond Congress, June 28th 2006, Nicky Oppenheimer, Chairman of De Beers, gave strength to this commitment: 'It is only through developing and maximizing all its natural resources that a sustainable future for Africa and its people can be secured. Diamonds are a key component of the campaign to make poverty history.'

Why Tanzania -the feasibility of concrete action, starting now
Tanzania is the only diamond mining economy with extensive informal diamond mining within which De Beers has significant operations through its joint venture with the Government in the Williamson mine. Small scale informal diggings are adjacent to the mine around Mwadui in the Shinyanga region. Aware that the success of the formal diamond industry has not been extended to the small scale informal sector, the Government of Tanzania has invited De Beers to work together to find a solution. De Beers understands that while it can play a leadership role, solutions need partnerships with a range of stakeholders.

Key partnership deliverables required to transform informal diamond mining

1. Small scale, viable, regulated mining industry supported by government valuation expertise
2. Fair prices paid directly to miners, facilitated by a 'smart card'and verified by a third party
3. Sustainable business model for small scale diamond mining with innovative project finance
4. Sustainable alternative livelihoods focusing on farming productivity and business supplies
5. Health needs in the region met, specifically preventing and managing HIV/AIDS, malaria
6. Education and training needs met, particularly school feeding and skills transfer for miners

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