Issues related directly to the World Diamond Council
Reporting to the virtual 2020 Annual General Meeting on October 19, 2020, WDC President Edward Asscher describes the state of the WDC, the role played by the diamond industry representative in the Kimberley Process, and the efforts being to ensure the integrity of the diamond value chain, from mine to retail.
The World Diamond Council’s 2020 Annual General Meeting on October 19, 2020, featured a panel discussion on the diamond industry’s industry’s role in meeting the expectations of the changing consumer.
If we take stock of all that happened in the past 12 months, it is possible to find hope for better days. Something tells me that, thanks to these most challenging times, to use a euphemism, our sense of purpose and our resolve to bring positive impact have become clearer and stronger.
Edward Asscher will serve as WDC President and Feriel Zerouki becomes the first woman to serve as WDC Vice President.
It was in 1999 when Stephane Fischler introduced me to Ambassador Robert Fowler, Canada’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. As his country’s delegate to the UN Security Council, he had been issuing reports on the violation of UN-imposed sanctions by the UNITA rebel movement in Angola.
Edward Asscher is the new President of the World Diamond Council (WDC), the international organization that is charged with leading the industry’s effort to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the jewelry supply chain and with representing it in the tripartite Kimberley Process coalition. F
June had been scheduled to be a hectic travel period for both the WDC and KP. Then the COVID-19 global pandemic struck.
The MRU workshop in Freetown had an ambitious agenda. It involved representatives of the four countries, with the help of industry and civil society, drawing up national and regional plans to implement the KPCS, combat the smuggling of minerals and enhancing the development and livelihood aspects of artisanal mining.
Although they produce only 5 percent of rough diamonds by volume, there are 1 million individuals involved artisanal diamond mining and at least 5 million others who are dependent on the revenues they provide.
As I sit at home listening to the rain fall over the rooftops of Paris, and reflect on my first blog as the new Executive Director of the World Diamond Council (WDC), my phone keeps beeping
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